Briarhurst Manor
by MsDiana
Summary: The entire team, their spouses, plus a few of our old favorites, decide to do a big family vacation. They had a treacherous year and they all want to unwind. Everyone is hoping to enjoy their beach vacation but Luke & Penelope have a secret they didn't tell anyone about and the team ends up trying to solve the mystery.
1. Chapter 1

I know, I know. The last thing you need right now is another new fic from me! I will update my other fics soon. I promise. I started writing this in January so I figured I should put it out there! This is my personal favorite of the Garvez I've written. One of the original characters that comes in later is essentially me so I'm attached to this story.

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The drive was only supposed to take six hours, but, between the large caravan they were in, the multiple children, and bathroom breaks, the drive took an extra two hours. As they finally arrived at the large beach house, everyone got out of their cars with relieved sighs and lots of stretching.

"Wow you weren't kidding about this place were you?" Emily slid her sunglasses on the top of her head and put her hands on her hips as she appraised the large house in front of her.

"No, I told ya. Didn't you look at the pictures, Em?" Penelope asked. "Welcome to Briarhurst Manor."

"Well, yeah. We all did, but this…" JJ waved her hand to indicate the large house in front of them.

"Well, it had to accommodate all of us, didn't it?" Penelope asked, amused that her friends were so caught up on the size of the manor.

Derek chimed in. "This is more than accommodating, sweetheart. A four story house, pool, wrap around porch… And this swingset makes it look like there's a park in the yard"

"Are you saying I went above and beyond? Because I am nothing if not restrained." Penelope squinted at him.

"Well, at least Mommy can drink and not have to worry about entertaining the kids." JJ gestured to where the eight children that were along for the trip were already climbing up and down the slides, swinging on the swings, and flying across the monkey bars.

"I'm just happy to see him outside and not staring at his video game," Hotch said, as he kept his eyes on Jack.

"Well, he's a teenager now. You're going to be lucky if he ever goes outside again, unless it's for a pretty girl." Matt raised his eyes at Hotch. "Or boy," he amended, earning a smile from pretty much everyone.

"As if we didn't already spend enough time together, now we need to vacation together? What is wrong with you people? Why am I here instead of on the French Riviera?" Rossi asked as he came to stand with the group.

"Family bonding?" Reid asked nonchalantly.

"Look, can we all just," Penelope waved her hands around. "Okay?"

Tara was next to Penelope, and she put her hand on her back. "Of course, we're all very excited to be here. Don't think otherwise." Tara, JJ, and Emily hugged Penelope.

"Get used to this, folks. Their codependency never ceases to amaze me." Will's southern accent drawled out with a barely contained smirk on his face. He was speaking to Kristy, Hayden, Savannah, and Mark as they stood around watching the FBI agents and former FBI agents huddled in a group, throwing verbal jabs at one another and hugging.

"Hey, I thought everyone agreed to this incestual vacation, not just us?" Derek smirked at Will.

"Besides, you might not be able to find each other in this house. We might not see you until next Tuesday." Luke chimed in for the first time.

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Uh, there are four suites all on the second floor. Kristy and Matt, you get the biggest one. It has an adjoining parlor and second bedroom, as well as a bathroom, so there's enough room for all your munchkins." Penelope had a manila envelope in her hand and pulled a small key on a chain out and handed it to Matt.

"We have room keys? I'm doubting anyone wants to steal any of the cabbage patch dolls we packed," he joked.

"Well, since it's such a big place, they usually just rent it by room and have a caretaker come through. So, no, you won't need it with just us here, but you still have to be able to get in." Penelope continued. "Okay, Jayge, you have the second suite next to that, also an extra bed and your own bathroom." Penelope looked at the keys in the envelope and picked out the one with the right room number on it.

"I still have to share with three boys," JJ muttered.

"Sorry, Boo. Can't help you there. Lover," she handed Derek the next key. "Yours is next to theirs. Same set up. And the last suite is for Spencer, his Mom, and Amanda. Sorry to everyone else. That's the last fancy room." Penelope held the last key in her hand out to Diana's caretaker.

"Mark and I can take a regular room. No problem," Emily said to her.

"If there's just a regular room with two beds, we'll be fine as well." Hotch said to her.

"Good. So, for the bigger rooms, we have a king sized bed for you, sir." She handed a key to Rossi. "And also for you, boss lady." She handed the next key to Emily.

"Thanks. Where are we?" Rossi questioned.

"Both of you are on third floor. This is the key for the double room." She handed it to Hotch. "Also on the third floor."

"Thanks, Garcia." Hotch stepped forward to take the key.

"Of course, sir. So that just leaves the three of us," Penelope said looking up at Tara and Luke. "There is also one bedroom on the bottom floor, but I figured that would be best to leave for Phil if he decides to come." Penelope looked to Luke who nodded in return. "So, Tara, there is one more king bed on the third floor. You and Alvez can fight over it."

"No need. Tara, be my guest." Luke gestured to her.

"Okay, thanks." Tara smiled at him.

Penelope stretched out her hand to give her the key. "It's next to Hotch's," she informed. "Okay, well, if anyone gets in a marital dispute, there's still an extra bedroom in the attic near the other two singles, so don't worry about having to sleep on the lawn furniture or anything." Penelope eyed a few of the couples who chuckled at her comment as she handed Luke a key to his room.

"Let's get the bags and check this place out. Have to see what a beach mansion looks like from the inside." Derek rubbed his hands together as he made his way to the back of one of the five SUVs parked in the large roundabout driveway. The other men followed him and began grabbing bags.

Kristy strolled towards the swingset, "I'll make sure the kids don't run amuck." She called back to the other parents.

"Let's check this place out." JJ happily trotted to the front double doors.

Penelope was right behind her. She shouted out so everyone moving across the driveway and walkway could hear her, "Everyone's key works on the front door, in case we actually manage to split up. Ever."

"Well that seems unlikely," Savannah joked as she looped her arm through Penelope's and they strolled to the entrance.

JJ unlocked the doors with her key and stepped in with Emily and Tara right behind her. "Holy smokes," Tara said as she looked towards the high vaulted ceilings in the foyer and then to the large living room area that could easily house all twenty five people that were currently there.

"Wow Penelope, this is..." JJ trailed off.

"Absolutely stunning." Hayden's french accent made Penelope smile as the older woman grasped Penelope's hand to tell her she did good.

"Glad everyone likes it. The fridges and pantry are stocked. It was part of the cost if you wanted the whole house. I figured with so many of us it would be better to not attempt to get reservations at fancy restaurants all week." Penelope shrugged her shoulder.

"Oh, so what you're saying is the boys have to cook for us," Emily said a little louder as the men started to enter the home with bags and suitcases in tow.

"Excuse me? What's that now?" Derek asked as he walked in.

"Nothing, Honey. Don't worry about it," Savannah chimed happily before giving the women a conspiratorial look.

"I don't mind cooking a few meals, as long as I get some help," Rossi added as he came in carrying just his and Hayden's bags.

Spencer was walking with his mom, his hand on her back. "Mom, look how nice this place is. We're going to really enjoy it here." Diana nodded politely, peeking up from under her eyelashes. "I think we'll go to the room and rest for awhile," he said to no one in particular and grabbed their bags from the entryway.

Amanda nodded politely at the others. "Just let me know when you need me to watch the children as well."

"Thanks. We'll try to let you know ahead of time," Will said to the woman. Since she was coming along for Diana already, all the parents decided to split the cost to have her on-call to babysit when the kids weren't off at the day camp they were going to.

"The stairs over there lead to the second and third floors." Penelope pointed to the large, wide staircase to the right side of them that was part of another open area that looked like more of a play room.

Spencer nodded and led the two women up the stairs.

"Maybe we should all recuperate from the drive and meet up later. I'll help Dave make dinner, say around seven thirty?" Hotch asked the group that was mostly convened in the foyer.

Various nods and verbal yeses were heard as Tara and the the two couples without children headed to their rooms.

"Guess we better go interrupt Hank's fun," Savannah said as she peered through the large open window that looked out over the playground in the yard.

"Kristy's out there watching them if you want to check out your rooms first." Matt looked at JJ and Derek.

"Poor Kristy with all the children." JJ smiled at him.

"Don't worry about it. When you hit four kids, it's like getting beat up. Once you're knocked out, it doesn't matter how many more punches they throw." He turned around and looked at Kristy through the window. She was alternately pushing two swings and balancing Michael on her hip at the same time.

All the adults chuckled. "Alright, we'll go settle in, and then come round ours up." Will said as he grabbed a couple bags, and JJ grabbed the other two.

Derek and Savannah followed suit, as did Hotch. "I'll be back down for Jack after I check in with his Aunt. I just want to call her, and let her know he's doing alright." Hotch turned to Matt, who nodded.

"Okay, well, I'll start hauling our entire life story up." Matt raised his eyes at Penelope.

"Here, I can help you," Luke said as he grabbed a couple of small purple and blue suitcases following Matt up the steps.

Penelope sighed and stared out the window at Kristy, watching all the kids running around and Kristy laughing at something one of them was doing. All she could think was what a saint the woman was. She would lose her mind not long after the novelty of the cute kool-aid stained faces wore off. She shook it off and bent down to grab her bag when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Here, let me. We've got four flights to get up." Luke smiled at her as he grabbed the bag from her shoulder and then bent over to get his.

"Yeah, well, I figured it was better for us, than for anyone to try and haul their kids up there." She began walking through the large living room, and through the attached open kitchen. At the back of it was the staircase that led all the way up to the converted attic that housed the smaller rooms. "I thought about letting them know Jack and Henry could stay in the single rooms up here just for fun, but I don't know. It seemed like maybe we should keep everyone in family mode and out of broody-adolescent-needing-privacy mode," Penelope said as she ascended the steps.

Luke chuckled, "Agreed. Besides, I think it will be nice to not worry about sharing a bathroom with any youngsters."

"You're not wrong there," Penelope agreed. She got to the top of the stairs and paused on the landing. "Do you have a preference?" she asked.

"We've been here before. You know that room is smaller, and these two at least have queens. We don't need to punish ourselves." He smiled as he walked past her into one of the larger rooms that faced the ocean.

"Okay, this one or that one?" she asked pointing through the open adjoining door.

"They're the exact same, Chica Bonita, unless you have a preference on whether your bed faces North or South." He smirked at her.

She tried to give him an annoyed glare, but a small giggle escaped her lips. "Fine, I'll stay here."

He nodded and dropped her bag on the bed before taking the few steps towards the other room and putting his bag down. "I'm still surprised everyone agreed to spend their precious time to get away together." Luke said as he upacked some things from his bag and started to put them in the dresser drawer.

Penelope sat on the edge of her bed and took off her shoes. "Well, they probably know that I needed this."

Luke paused his actions and then spoke again as soon as he felt his tone wouldn't betray him. "I still don't think they know. None of them have given that away. None of them seem to be doing this out of pity or obligation."

"They're profilers, which means they can also control their emotions," she reminded him as she pulled clothes out from her bag and hung them in the small wardrobe.

He came to stand in the doorway between their rooms and leaned on the door jamb. "Chica, I'm telling you, no one knows."

She glanced at him but continued her task of hanging her dresses. "They all know, Alvez. I can't hide anything. You really think they didn't see me down and out a couple months ago, and that they aren't here because they know I've been so moody lately."

"Honestly, Penelope, no. I don't think so. They would have said something by now. Someone would have questioned you until you spilled the details."

"So you're saying I just miraculously got good at hiding my secrets?" she asked him in amused disbelief.

He pushed off the door. "No, just the opposite in fact. I think you were showing all the signs of depression and fear, and everyone saw it, but we were all going through torment for months. We were worried about our safety, our families. Bodies were dropping like flies. I think they saw you taking that case pretty hard. We were so close, but yet it felt like we'd never catch him. We barely had time to look at each other, let alone profile one another. We all aren't supposed to anyway."

She scoffed. "Yeah, that's what they say, but they do it anyway. Besides, I think no one said anything to me because they knew I didn't want to talk about it. They all know I was going to therapy once a week. Em had to let me off early every Thursday."

"We all had to go to a few mandated sessions, and both Tara and Reid went to more as well, not just you. I'm telling you, they were so busy and distraught and tired that no one was paying attention. And yeah, we aren't supposed to profile one another. Sometimes it's just force of habit. You can't stop being attentive, but like I said they know you've been upset. They don't know the real reason why, though. That's still your secret to keep." He tipped his head at her sympathetically.

"Yeah well, you know," she muttered, not knowing if she believed him, wanted to believe him, or if it even mattered.

"Well, I was there." He gave her a small smile. "I think they know you wanted this, but I think they all needed this. Even Hotch and Derek. It's clear they miss this team, this family."

"You think Derek doesn't know?" she asked Luke genuinely.

"I don't. He would've comforted you or quizzed me, but he hasn't. He knew the heaviness of the case, and, honestly, not having as much time for your best friend when there is a mass murderer threatening everyone you care about is inevitable. I had to make time after the fact to talk to Phil, and, even then, it wasn't so much to catch up but to talk to someone, anyone."

"I still don't understand why you didn't take more therapy sessions." She sat on the edge of her bed again.

He joined her. "I didn't want to talk to a Bureau doc is all. I know it's all supposed to be classified, but… I don't know. Since we had just dealt with an unsub that knew so much about us, I guess I just didn't want documentation anywhere in my file about anything. I just felt so exposed already," he answered her sincerely.

She nodded. "I wish I had your strength."

"I don't." She lifted her head catching his eye as he turned to her. "All I'm saying is sometimes compartmentalising is great and helpful at the time, but eventually you have to deal with everything you go through, and then you have to dig it up from wherever you buried it. It's not much fun." He put his hand on his thigh as he looked to the floor.

She gave him a sympathetic smile and put a hand on his back, "I guess I never thought of it like that."

Luke gave her a small smile. "No matter what, nothing is ever simple when you feel hurt like that. It's not like you can plan for it." He reassured her.

She brought her hand back to her lap. "That's very true."

He stood up from his spot next to her. "We've got about five hours to kill before dinner. You want to watch a movie?"

She smiled and nodded. "Sounds good."

"You change into some shorts, and I'll go grab something from the media room. Want anything else?" he asked as he walked to the hallway.

"Just your handsome self. Oh, and maybe some licorice."

He turned back around to her and smiled. "You've got it."

She watched the doorway until she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. She spun around and pulled out some loose drawstring shorts, pulling them up under her dress. She rummaged through her bag for a tshirt, but she couldn't find one. She dumped out the rest of the bag and found she only had packed a tank top that covered very little and a nightie that was called a nightie for a reason; it couldn't be seen in the daylight. "Great job, Penelope. You packed twelve dresses and not one tshirt." She huffed, frustrated with her less than stellar packing skills, before shrugging and walking into Luke's room and pulling out the top dresser drawer. She grabbed out the first grey shirt that she saw. She pulled her dress off and then brought the shirt over her head before tossing the rest of her clothes on a chair to be dealt with later. She crawled onto the bed and reached over to the nightstand to grab the remote.

Luke appeared in the doorway. "Here, comedy because it's the best thing for us right now." He tossed the bag of licorice to her, walked to the small television, and loaded the DVD player before joining her on the bed. He kicked off his shoes as he passed her and walked into his room, leaving her to fast forward through the previews. He pulled out some light grey sweats and a black undershirt, donning them quickly, coming back through the door, and throwing himself onto the bed next to her.

She leaned forward to hand him one of the pillows from behind her that she had propped up against the headboard so she could sit up with her legs stretched out in front of her. She was attempting to open the very stubborn candy package. He grabbed it from her hands, ripping it open before handing it back to her. "You can close the door if you want. Don't think I'm going to get mad if we don't have some open door policy or anything," she said to him as she looked at the screen in front of her.

"Oh please. Like I'm scared for you to see me naked?" He joked as he grabbed a red string from the bag she held.

She giggled. "Yeah, well, sorry some of us don't have your incredible self control." She leaned over nudging his shoulder with hers.

He smirked as he bit into his candy. "That's obviously not very true, is it?" He took a nibble off the end before he spoke again. "Besides, we are all so into each other's lives all the time, I wasn't expecting as much privacy as this. I mean we're the only ones on the top floor. Granted it's a small converted attic, but we have our own staircase, so no one else is going to catch me doing naked aerobics or anything, just you." He lifted his eyebrows at her.

She let out a loud chuckle. "Naked aerobics? My goodness, no one should do that."

"Don't kill my vibe." He joked as he grabbed the remote and hit play. He turned up the volume, before setting the remote on the night stand on his side and then settling back against the headboard like she had.

She quietly watched the beginning credits before speaking again. "I'm really glad we're here. I'm thankful everyone came, but I'm happy you decided to come back as well. I know you don't really like this town so much anymore."

"It's not really that, Penelope. I just wasn't sure how it would feel. Staying away isn't an option forever either, is it?" He smiled at her sadly.

She sighed, a small smile on her face, "No. No, it's not."

He saw the sadness attempting to cloud her eyes, so he put his arm around her and brought her head to rest on his shoulder. "It's alright. Everyone is going to have a blast, and so will you." She bobbed her head up and down as she let her cheek rest on his shoulder. He settled back onto the bed a little more, letting her stay where she was as they laughed at the movie.

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I always mean this; thank you for favs, follows, reviews, PM's, I do read them all and cherish them dearly.


	2. Chapter 2

I know I already update both Signals and Cash this week but last night's mention of a drawer had me in an absolute tizzy. I was not okay about it. So I decided to throw more Garvez out in the world and hope it sticks.

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The credits on the movie had rolled long ago, and the screen was replaying the main menu over and over again. Both Luke and Penelope had fallen asleep. He had slunk down onto the bed, and she had rolled into him, her head still glued to his shoulder where he had placed it to comfort her.

That was how Derek found them when he wandered up just an hour before dinner was set to start. He had come up the stairs and noticed there were only four doors. One was open, revealing a bathroom, the farthest door away was closed, and then the two doors right next to each other were open. He walked towards the familiar sound of the television and stopped abruptly in the doorway. He was confused at first. He almost backed away, not sure what he was interrupting, but he saw that both people were peacefully asleep and not terribly intimately connected. Their legs were far apart. Her body was not against his. The only part of them touching was her head on his shoulder. Both of them were fully clothed in casual movie watching attire. So instead he knocked lightly on the door.

Luke was a light sleeper. The small knock was enough to wake him. He opened his eyes and saw Derek's questioning face at the doorway. He sleepily began to sit up. Noticing that his left arm was numb, he looked down to Penelope. "Garcia, I think we fell asleep watching the movie."

She mumbled something incoherently as Luke stretched his neck. "Morgan, we didn't miss dinner already, did we?" he asked casually.

Derek took in Luke's calm nonchalant attitude about being asleep with one of his coworkers. "No, man. Just came up to see if my girl was bored yet, but I guess everyone's tired from the drive."

Penelope had been slowly coming back to life as the men made conversation. "So tired." She yawned. "Children are exhausting, and all I had to do was sing along to the various songs, but yeesh I am wiped."

"Good morning," Derek teased her.

"I'll show you a good morning, Hot Stuff." She was sitting up now, one leg curled underneath her, eyelids heavy, squinting at Derek.

Luke noticed her straining to see Derek only a few feet away and reached over to his side of the nightstand. As soon as she fell asleep, he took her glasses off for safekeeping. He handed them back to her. "Here, Chica. You're going to make your eyeballs pop out of your head."

She took the glasses and lazily brought them up to her face. "Thanks, hun." She turned to Derek whom she could now see and not just assume the blob-like-thing was him. "So what's the haps?"

Derek wondered why these two were so chill about their circumstance. Then again, him and Penelope used to watch movies and fall asleep all the time. She'd rarely fall asleep on him, but it happened sometimes. Heck, even Emily had fallen asleep on him when they got drunk before. "Everyone seems to be tired and mellowed out. Guess we're not young enough anymore to go on vacation, start drinking right away, and not look back for a week."

"Are you kidding? I feel like we need to sleep for two days and then maybe start vacation," Penelope said to him as she stretched. Derek noticed the men's shirt she wore and wondered why she had it. Something left over from an ex?

"You're telling me. I feel like we're still at work. It's hard to get out of that mindset when we are all still together." Luke stood up and made his way into his room to find his phone.

Derek took notice that the adjoining door was open, but shrugged it off since these two seemed to be chilling out. "So, watched a movie, and fell asleep. What are your plans for tomorrow, Goddess? Clean the oven?" he teased. Penelope crossed her legs on the bed and pulled a pillow in front of her to cuddle.

"I figured everyone will want to go to the beach or the pool or maybe even shopping. I wanted to plan it all out, but there's too many of us to wrangle, and I don't think I have enough Goddess powers to make everyone stick to a schedule."

Derek laughed as he came to sit on the edge of the bed, twisting his body to look at her. "I thought you were all powerful," Derek teased her.

"I am." She paused. "When I have the energy," she amended.

"Oh, so over twenty people took their personal vacation time to come here, to this place, where you wanted to go, for no good reason then, huh?" He nudged her calf with his fingers.

"Oh, Honey. You know I can get you to do anything I want." She smiled coquettishly at him.

"Hmm mmm, you know that's right, Momma," Derek said back to her.

Luke was standing in the doorway again, smiling at the joking pair while reading a text. "Hey, I think both Phil and my sister are going to make it. I guess we're going to be even more crowded around here," Luke said to the two of them.

"The more the merrier, I suppose. Phil was your partner right?" Derek asked.

Luke sent off another reply before looking up to answer him. "Yeah, he was for years. He was in the rangers with me too. My sis, she's just sort of nuts. Said she's meeting someone down here." He shrugged. "I told her I was coming down with my team. She must have thought that was an invitation. It wasn't, but she's driving Phil down, so I guess I can't complain," Luke joked.

"When will they be here?" Penelope questioned.

"Tomorrow afternoon sometime. Although the way my sister drives…" Luke trailed off.

Derek chuckled. "I hear that. Sarah is a great driver, but Des? You can't pay me enough to get in a car with her behind the wheel."

"I'm glad I kept that room on the first floor open. I knew you said Phil was a maybe, but it's the only room on the main floor, so just in case and all that," Penelope said.

"Why? Is it really nice or something?" Derek asked.

"It's the master suite. Walk in shower, bay view windows, remote-controlled pop-up entertainment center. It's what's back behind that play area, that whole corner of the house," Penelope explained.

"And why is Phil so special?" Derek teasingly asked as he looked between the two.

Penelope gave Luke a sympathetic look before she saw him nod. Derek furrowed his brow at the small exchange. "Phil's in a wheelchair now. He can't get up the stairs," Penelope explained with a small smile.

Derek's face turned in recognition as he glanced to Luke who was examining the floor. "Oh, right, gotcha. Well, I guess I'll just have to make friends with him so he'll let me watch the game in there on Saturday."

Penelope rubbed his arm to assure him he didn't overstep any bounds. They would all know once Phil arrived anyway.

"Hey, he was going to bring Lou. Would that be okay with everyone?" Luke asked.

"Oh yeah. I think everyone has a dog or has had a dog, but we can confirm at dinner so you can let him know tonight before they take off tomorrow," Penelope said.

"Great, yeah. If not, he can drop him off to my pet sitter who has Roxy, and I can pay her when we get back," Luke said.

"Is your sister dating Phil?" Derek asked.

Luke gave him an amused chuckle. "No, not at all, but Phil's my best friend so you can imagine that he knows everyone in my life. Actually it's very odd that he hasn't met the whole team yet, but he was struggling with recovery for quite some time so I didn't see too much of him outside of rehab when I visit him," Luke explained.

Derek nodded, and Penelope tapped his upper arm again. "But he's doing much better. Last time I saw him he was so happy, and Lou was running around like a hellion." She smiled at Derek and then Luke.

Derek contemplated Penelope, confused, and then glanced to Luke, who caught on to his question. "Yeah, Garcia helped me surprise him when I got him the dog. I needed someone to help me, and, if you're going to do something with a cute animal, then you call Garcia in." He crossed his arms and leaned against the door jamb.

Derek nodded. There was a weird friendship happening here, but he had been unaware of it. The first time he saw them together, Penelope was giving the new guy a hard time. He knew it wouldn't last. They didn't speak more to each other than any other team members. They didn't avoid each other either. In fact, Derek had not noticed much of an exchange at all. He mentally shrugged. It was weird, but then again, him and JJ knew each other very well, which made them good partners. Prentiss even picked up Clooney for him years back, when he couldn't make it to the vet. He went on vacation with Elle for goodness sake. "I'm sure we'll enjoy his company. Glad you stopped giving the Newbie a hard time. You two are actually getting along now, eh?" Derek asked curiously.

Luke casually answered, "She had to break down eventually. All of us are always together." Luke gestured to the house that they were all in at the moment, proving his point by the shear idea of the place they were in.

Derek shook his head in acceptance. "That's true. I don't miss having to share rooms with Reid, but I do miss sharing rooms with my Sweet Stuff." He grabbed Penelope's fingers and kissed them.

"Ahh, Shug." She brought her hand up to caress the side of his face. "And if you didn't snore so loud, I'd miss that too." She laughed as she watched his face fall.

"Woman, why do you insist on torturing me?" His faux anger made her laugh even more.

"Well, you came to see if I was bored, Angel Fish, which means that you volunteered to be my entertainment," she told him.

"Well, that's not the way I was planning on entertaining you." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Ah, Hot Stuff, why do you tease me so?"

"Uh huh, Hot Stuff, you're the tease."

"Wait," she held her hand up to stop him from talking. "Is that Rossi's garlic bread I smell?" She looked around the room for confirmation.

"It's a safe bet," Derek answered

"C'mon, we've got to get down there." She pushed Derek off the bed. "I should probably change." She said as she threw her hair up into a cute ponytail.

"Don't bother. More people are dressed down than up," Derek said. He still had on jeans and a shirt. "I passed JJ and Will before I came up. They had on tanks and shorts."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" She started shoving him.

Luke pushed off the door and followed her down the steps.

"See? He doesn't know," Luke whispered in her ear as they descended the steps.

"He was joking." Penelope waved him off, and Luke shook his head at her back.

The loud conversation wafted up to them as they got to the bottom of the more narrow staircase. Derek put his hand behind him for her to grasp as they descended the last few steps. When they appeared in the kitchen, everyone was gathered around the counter or on the barstools that were spread between the living room and kitchen.

Rossi whistled, drawing attention to the two descending the steps. "Uh oh! Are you two still working on that lovechild we've all been waiting for?"

Derek laughed, letting go of her hand and leaning over to grab a piece of garlic bread from the counter. "Oh, you know we never stopped Rossi."

Penelope stilled when he let go of her hand and leaned against the nearest counter. Her tummy started hurting, and this rowdy crowd wasn't going to calm it. Luke was only steps behind them, and he saw her standing there uncomfortably as she watched the others. He placed his hand on the small of her back. Luke said to the group, "I think I messed that up for them. I was too close and interrupted their private time."

"Well, you did have claim on him before I did," Savannah spoke to Penelope, as Derek kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh, no worries. I was just reminded of how he snores. I remembered why I don't miss him all that much." Penelope snapped back, making everyone laugh again, especially Savannah who knew she wasn't lying.

"C'mon, c'mon. Ease up now." Derek held his hands wide, asking for a little less teasing from everyone.

"Why would we ease up when it's completely true," Spencer said as he stepped around Derek, and reached for some carrot sticks. Derek lightly tapped the back of his head, and Spencer brought his hand up to the back of his head to rub it as if in pain.

"Alright, kids. Settle down. Uncle Dave made us all a nice dinner." Hotch was smiling slightly.

"Oh, good. That's your job to wrangle us and not mine," Emily said as if she just noticed, "This vacation just got a whole lot better." She leaned over to kiss Mark as the others chuckled at her.

"I'm not doing any paperwork." Hotch smirked.

"Spoil sport."

Amanda appeared in the foyer leading to the other side of the house. "I've got the folding table in the playroom setup."

"We already pulled out the chairs," Kristy said as she kissed Matt.

"Sav and I will bring in the kids plates." Will nodded at Amanda as she went to join the children again.

Savannah followed Will with a couple plates and returned for a second trip.

"Alright, everyone. Grab your plates, and make your way through," Hayden announced to the others, handing Tara her plate first. "You're my favorite remember?"

Tara laughed. "Oh, I remember. Don't think I don't appreciate it either."

"Hey, wait. You're playing favorites? What do I have to do to be favorite?" Emily asked with her brow furrowed.

"Do you speak French?" Hayden asked.

"Oui bien sûr," Emily answered.

"Well then, you're my favorite too." Hayden held out a plate to her next.

Emily gave her a huge smile and made a small fist bringing it down in celebration. She stuck her tongue out at Derek, who was leaning against the counter still.

Luke was eyeing the group, but spoke to Penelope. "Don't worry. They all love you so much. You don't have to pretend to be okay when you're not. If you feel overwhelmed, you can excuse yourself," Luke assured her.

"I know, I guess it's all a little much, when I'm still not feeling like myself. Normally I'd love to have everyone here, laughing and joking, even though my tummy is in knots." She waited for everyone to get 'their food, so she could calmly grab a plate.

Luke patiently waited for her. He was last to get his food. They sat at one of the high tables together. Savannah and Derek were sitting across from them, while everyone else was spread around the various couches and tables in the living room.

They could hear faint screams and yells coming from the other room as they ate in relative quiet. "Hey, if anyone spills, all of you are scrubbing the carpet," Kristy yelled towards the other room, and there was an immediate hush.

"Wow, you're good," JJ said to her impressed.

"No other options. It's about survival really," Kristy explained as everyone chuckled at her.

"This is why I will not be procreating," Emily announced happily.

"I thought you wanted kids, back in the day," JJ said.

"I wanted to take in that older girl because she needed a stable place. I don't think I ever wanted to start from scratch," Emily told her.

"Do you think you'll adopt?" Tara asked.

"I don't think I want kids at all, but, if I did, I would adopt. A lot of kids need homes. If I decided I had room in my life for children, that's how I'd do it."

"We agree on that." Mark smiled at her.

"Me too," Reid said making everyone look over to him. He noticed all the eyes on him and nervously looked over to his mother.

"Schizophrenia is genetic." Diana tapped her son's hand, letting him know it was okay to say. "Plus, there are kids that need homes. It would be a kind thing to do." She was having a very lucid day, which made Spence smile.

"I don't want kids. My ex and I always said we would adopt if we changed our minds. Work was my priority. I didn't want to take time out to have a kid before it would be too late, but adoption can be done anytime," Tara added.

"I never wanted kids either, but one day it happened anyway. I'm very grateful for her, but I don't think I would've consciously made a different decision," Rossi said, tapping Hayden's hand.

"I wouldn't either. I love our Joycie, but I didn't want children, either. Suppose that's why I never had another," Hayden said.

"I wouldn't give Jack up for the world, but I'm happy to stop at one," Hotch added.

"Looks like we're the only crazy fools around here." JJ lifted her beer and tipped it towards Matt and Kristy.

"Well, you two, also." Matt gestured to Derek and Savannah.

Savannah shook her head side to side in contemplation. "It was sort of an accident so…" She raised her shoulders.

"I'm happy to stop at one," Derek said lifting his fork, then he glanced back at Savannah, "unless you inform me otherwise of course."

The group laughed at them. "What about you, Pen?" JJ looked over to her curiously.

"You know me. Love my god babies. Love it more when I can give them back." She smiled at the group as she raised her wine glass, making them all laugh again.

"Luke?" Tara questioned since he was the last one to ask.

"Not for me," he reached for his beer.

"Okay, good. So the group stops at eight then? Because I'm going to be honest, you all are driving me into debt with all these children's birthday parties," Emily joked.

"So what are we doing tomorrow? Beach? Shopping? There's an arcade," Penelope questioned.

"Beach time for sure," Derek said.

"Amanda will see the kids off in the morning to go to camp and then take care of the young ones while we drink." Kristy raised her eyes and licked the garlic off her finger.

"I think we're all ready for the beach," JJ said as she looked around the room seeing mostly nods.

"I'm going to take my mom to an art exhibit that just opened downtown, if anyone wants to come along," Spencer said.

"Ooh! I read about that online. I'll come," Tara said.

"Sounds nice. I think Dave and I will join," Hayden said as Rossi nodded.

"Okay, so, everyone else, beach at eleven?" JJ confirmed.

"Sounds good, except I'll meet you all there later on. I'm going to go run and get a couple things for Phil, my old partner. He'll be here tomorrow with my sister. Sorry, I know the house will be even more full," Luke informed them.

"Oh, that's right. Phil will be taking the suite on this floor. Layla will be upstairs with us," Penelope told the group. "Phil has a dog named Lou. Does anyone mind if he brings him? Don't hesitate to say no if anyone's allergic or anything. Phil is disabled, but he doesn't have to bring Lou to help him."

"I don't think anyone has any issue," Rossi responded, and no one objected.

"Great. I'll go with you. I promised Layla that I would have those Mexican flavored drink, whatevers, and I forgot to request them. Plus, I wanted to make sure and get Lou those treats from the dog bakery that I got Roxy's last time," Penelope was speaking to Luke before she reached for her wine glass, not noticing everyone staring at her curiously.

Luke did notice, however, and diverted their attention. "My sister is a handful. She is quite demanding. Feel free to push her into pools, take her candy, hide her possessions," Luke spoke to the group at large, hoping someone would pick up the thread.

Matt saw the flash in Luke's eyes. "Yeah, so you said. She can't be all that bad." Matt was trying to help him out, but Penelope was so sweetly oblivious to the fact that she was revealing more than any of them knew.

"She is not. She's a sweetheart. You just don't like that she's your grandma's favorite," Penelope said to him as she pushed her wine glass around.

Luke glared at her and almost wanted to laugh. She thought everyone knew already and wasn't trying to keep the secret she didn't know she had. Yet here she was, revealing it for the first time, unwittingly. He gave Matt an imperceptible blink of gratitude before diving right in with her. "I think you're Abuela's favorite, so, using that illogical logic, I should be mean to you."

Penelope hadn't even noticed the intrigued faces of the others around the room. "Well, of course I'm her favorite. That's a given, but Layla is the baby, and you don't like that she gets extra gifts at Christmas." Penelope waved her hand.

Luke leaned on the table. "It's not fair. She gets two sets of pajamas, and I only get one. How is that supposed to feel?" He was acting casual as ever as he surveyed the reactions of all the people in the room. Everyone was smart enough to understand, even if they weren't profilers.

"Well, whatever. She can have her fruity drink things. She's bringing back my boots that she stole, like, eight months ago, so I'll be happy to buy her stupid drinks for her. However, we should mention that she shouldn't be allowed to drink more than three if she's also consumed alcohol because she will throw up red, all over," Penelope informed them as she picked at her garlic bread.

Luke put both elbows on the table, wanting desperately to signal to her what she was revealing, but from where he stood now, the only thing to do was act casual to keep everyone from reacting animatedly. "My sis is a mess, sweet as anything, but she likes to act young and dumb. She was in college forever and apparently still believes dorm behavior is acceptable in the real world."

"She's head surgeon at University of Pennsylvania Presbyterian, so I guess that's pretty impressive. Can't fault her for wanting to let loose, but she will steal your boots when you're passed out drunk, pretend that she didn't notice, and then she'll send you a picture of her wearing them in Barbados, so just watch out for that ladies," Penelope said jokingly, as she finally noticed the quiet group in front of her, seeing for the first time that everyone was hanging onto her every word. She squinted at them.

"She's not bringing your shoes back," Luke tried to divert her attention again.

"She better be." Penelope pulled out her phone to angry text Layla about her boots.

"She won't. That's just a ploy to make you buy her what she wants." He turned back to the group. "Which is why you should feel free to be as mean to her as you like."

Penelope let the back of her hand slap at Luke's bicep. "She's fine, and I wouldn't mess with her anyway. She can make it from the hot tub in the back to the bathroom on the fourth floor in forty five seconds flat. She will steal your stuff, and you won't catch her, FBI or not," Penelope said casually.

Luke had nothing else to give. He had an amused smile on his face as he shook his head. He picked up his beer to take a drink, waiting for someone to ask the question.

"Baby Girl, you- you-" Derek glanced to Luke, hoping to read his face, but finding no information, turned back to her. "You came here with Luke on vacation before?" Derek did a quick scan of all the intrigued faces in the room, finding that none of them had answers.

Penelope squinted at him in confusion. "Uh, yeah. How did you think I picked this place? We came here with Luke's cousins and Layla and their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, and whoever else. Wait, didn't you know that?" She scanned the room with a slight bit of horror growing on her face. "We took vacation to the same place when we were on mandated leave, that didn't register?" she queried, glancing frantically from face to face.

Emily decided to speak first. "Uh, no. I mean Luke said he was going to South Carolina for a semi-family reunion, and you said you were going to Myrtle Beach with friends. I get that they're in the same place, but no."

Penelope could tell her cheeks were turning pink, but she didn't understand. "Well, what did you- I mean- why- what did…" She trailed off looking to Luke, who was trying to give her a sympathetic smile, but his eyes were holding just a hint of I-told-you-so in them.

JJ set her beer down that had been suspended mid-air since she heard this revelation and cleared her throat. "You came here together? On purpose?" She watched Penelope nod slightly. JJ glanced to Rossi and then Reid, "No, uh. We didn't know that."

Penelope scrutinized Derek's face. He almost seemed angry, or at the very least betrayed. Then she scanned the girls, whose faces didn't look that much different than his. "Wait, wait, but you're all profilers. You- I- I've never been able to hide anything from you. Ever. At least not for long. Rossi knew about the encrypted files. Spencer always knows what he's getting for his birthday. When I dated Lynch, it was a surprise at first, but..." She looked at Derek remembering how he came storming in her office, a big question on his face, and how Reid still didn't figure it out for days, but they would've sniffed her out within a week or two.

"Well, yeah, but we were off on a case. When we were back for awhile, we would've have seen it," Emily told her.

"I wasn't there for that, but it's safe to say I didn't know this at all." Tara pointed in between Penelope and Luke. "How long have you been dating then?" Her face was as flabbergasted as everyone else's.

"We're not." Penelope inspected Hotch's face and Rossi's, sure those two were well aware, but clearly they weren't. After she spoke, she saw everyone's faces scrunch more. "We're not anymore," she clarified.

The whole room seemed to sink into deeper puzzlement. Luke cleared his throat. "I know this isn't a time for _I told you so_ , but," he let his eyes travel the room before landing back on her, "I told you they didn't know."

Penelope flicked her hand on his bicep again. "Why did you let me tell them?" she asked incredulously.

He put his hands out. "What part of _they don't know_ was unclear, Cariña?"

"You mean this was actually all my own and I didn't have to-" She looked around again at the various faces.

"Garcia, don't you think we would've asked you about it?" JJ was still trying to process the information.

"No. I thought you all were doing that thing you do, where you all know everything before I do, and you were waiting for me to blurt it out like I always do, and I didn't want to give you the satisfaction, so I just- I just thought that you all were pretending for my sake." Her eyes darted from JJ to Derek, certain that those two knew exactly how she felt.

"Baby Girl, I had no idea," he said to her.

"What? What? How?" She was more befuddled than everyone else now. Her eyes silently pleaded with everyone, team and spouse alike, before turning to Luke.

He gave her the answer he had always given her. "You weren't trying to hide anything. You thought they knew, so your behavior was never nervous or telling. Since you avoided saying anything out right, they didn't know. That, mixed with everything terrible happening over the past year, no one was thinking you or I were hiding anything."

Understanding now dawned on the rest of them about how this could happen, "But still we missed an entire relationship?" JJ turned to Emily.

"We were all under a lot of pressure. Half of you didn't see your families for weeks. There were other things on our minds." Emily reassured her and the others.

"Like Luke said, I know when you have a secret because you are jumpy and giddy or you fidget, but, if you weren't trying to hide anything, I wouldn't know if I wasn't looking for something." Matt informed.

"But, wait. You're not together anymore?" JJ squinted and shook her head in disbelief. She had seen them interact with each other from the very beginning. She'd seen Penelope accidentally flirt with him. She'd seen Luke comfort her. It might have been nothing, at least at the time, but it had turned into something at some point. She was always certain they'd get together and never break up. "What would you two ever break up over?" JJ asked sadly. Everyone observed her on the verge of tears. She was sad over something she didn't even know she didn't know about.

Penelope started to stutter and shake her head. If they didn't know, she surely didn't want them to know. She assumed there were looks of pity over the past months. She had no idea she was just interpreting their weariness as something else. All she knew was that she was grateful they had decided to pretend they didn't know because she was not prepared to talk about it or cry about it or anything else about it. It was painful enough to go through. She sure as hell didn't want to relive her failed relationship with everyone at work.

Luke stepped in. "I don't mean to be rude at all, but that's private, and I think there's a reason neither of us came to any of you, even when it was hard to deal with," Luke said as honestly and nicely as possible, looking around at the others. "Maybe if you just give us some more time to process everything... but we won't let it affect work, which, I guess is obvious," he stated.

Silence filled the room. "Okay, but, if you want to talk, you can," JJ said to both of them.

Penelope finally let tears fall down her face, but she kept her voice steady. "I really really don't. But thanks anyway. I'm going to bed. I'll see you all tomorrow." She gave them a half hearted smile before rushing up the stairs, trying her hardest to not look like she was rushing.

Luke cleared his throat, letting his eyes fall to the table momentarily before addressing the curious and concerned eyes around him. He made brief eye contact with Matt before saying to the group generally, "It's just not a good time right now. She thought you all agreed to this big family vacation because you already felt bad for her. I told her it was because we all actually like each other. So just give her some time. Believe me, neither of us thought it would end this way." He pushed off the stool and followed Penelope up the stairs, leaving a ton of very concerned, confounded, emotional faces behind him.

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Love hearing from all of you on any platform. And since I'm trying to get things out I might not have gotten to some replies yet so just bear with me. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

My life decided to turn to garbage all at once. My very long term relationship broke up so I am working on moving. I was in the hospital. I am in physical therapy but they are now sending me for tests. I also had a biopsy done for a completely different medical reason. And my car broke down. And so did my hair straightener. (Btw the only thing I cried about was the hair straightener.) So anyway, that's why I have been too busy. If I haven't responded to you here, on Twitter or Tumblr I am sorry. I enjoy hearing from you. Love the reviews. I just haven't had the time. But I had this and a chapter of Signals ready so those two are getting updated today. Cash, When, Fog, and some of my one-shots aren't edited yet so idk when that will happen. Bear with me. And thanks for the support.

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Once Luke was far enough up the stairs to be out of sight, he took them two at a time so he could get to her quicker. As soon as he stepped onto the final landing, he heard her full fledged sniffles, and his heart lurched. He hated that she was upset, and he hated that he was part of that. Even if the emotional scene downstairs set it off, if he never played his role in all this, she wouldn't be in this mess now. She wouldn't have had anything to cry over. He could only be her friend now, nothing more, and he was appreciative she gave him that much. He had been almost certain she never would again.

She was laying in the fetal position, facing away from the door as he walked in. He ran a hand over his head, before getting on the bed with her and curling up behind her.

"I swear to goodness, you better not tell me that you were right." Her voice was cracked from her sobs, but he could hear the faint mirth in her words.

He gave a small smile as he put his face to the back of her head. "No, Baby. I won't say that. I just wish you would believe me once in a while," he said to her.

"Well, how am I supposed to know when you're..." She paused. This was not the time to bring up any points of contention, not when they were back to being so good to each other again.

He took a deep breath. "I don't know, but I'm hoping one day my words are enough for you again." He said softly into her ear, making her breathing speed up as she felt his words heat her body.

She rolled her eyes. How could she be so damn emotional and still get turned on by him whispering words of comfort in her ear? "It's fine Luke. We've talked this whole subject to death. We both understand each other's point of view. We just don't completely agree yet. We have decided to forgive each other. That's all we need to know." She flipped around so she was facing him. He didn't move away, and she knew he wouldn't. "But I'm sorry I revealed something that we were apparently keeping to ourselves. I shouldn't have done that to you."

"Don't worry about me. I'm a big boy. I can take it. Even if they all decided to hate me for hurting you." He kissed the tip of her nose and wiped the tears away from her cheek.

"They won't hate you. I'm the only one who gets to be mad at you. That's my special privilege." She smirked at him.

He threw his head back laughing at her. "Okay, mi cielito. That's fine. I like it when you're feisty anyway." He knew she wasn't really that upset anymore. She'd gone to therapy and worked out her feelings about the past year - the tragic case and the tough personal things she went through. She was actively choosing to not let it make her scared or bitter, so he knew that he could joke with her. Even if everyone else was running to catch up, he was right beside her the whole time.

"Of course you do." She looked into his eyes that were just a couple inches away from hers, and she remembered what it was like to kiss him, to hold him, to know he was hers. She used to own him, hold his heart. No matter how briefly it was for, she did, and it was the most brilliant thing she had done. At least while it lasted. At least until it ended, the way she knew happiness would always end for her because it was too good to be true.

He was watching her eyes. He could see the wheels turning in there, see her contemplating what it would be like to be together again. He wondered, not for the first time, if she would ever forget the pain and try again, but he had no idea when she would. He was going to lean in and kiss her. He could write it off as a comforting kiss, but he knew, and she knew, it would always mean more. So he waited. He couldn't take anything else from her, so he didn't dare try.

She looked up into his eyes and held them for a moment. She wanted him. He must know that. But she didn't know if she could forget the pain that was now etched on her heart from what loving him did to her. She laid out on the line, and she got burned. It's just, at the moment, she couldn't remember why that mattered at all when what she loved about him should have been enough to forget what had happened. It was so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. She inched her face forward, her eyes fixated on his lips, not giving a damn about what she had talked herself in and out of over the past couple months. She was going to taste him again. She swore that to herself. She just had to wait until the pain lessened and the memory went away. But right here, right now, she forgot she ever felt pain as she anticipated kissing him for the first time all over again. As she leaned in closer, she watched his apprehensive eyes. In that moment, she was actually quite happy to allay his fears, until they heard footsteps. She saw his eyes close in annoyance and anger, and they studied each other's eyes again, trying to communicate before whomever was coming got there. He kept his hand on her hip where it had fallen when she flipped to him. It was just a familiar movement, a learned habit. They gave each other a knowing look and started to pull away when their guests arrived at the door.

"Oh. Uh, sorry." JJ said subdued.

"No worries, Jayge. Come in." Penelope sat up. Luke flipped to his back, propping himself on the pillows, looking at their guests. "You too, lover," she said to Derek who was standing in the doorway, much like he had earlier, but now with an odd question written on his face.

JJ came to sit at the foot of the bed, comfortable with both Luke and Penelope, while Derek took a seat on a small chair that was a companion to the vanity by the doorway. "We don't want to pry and make you feel uncomfortable. We just wanted to come up and say we're sorry we didn't notice or maybe you're welcome we didn't notice." JJ giggled. "I'm not really sure which one you'd like."

Penelope smiled at her. "Well, I'm just sorry I didn't listen to Luke. I thought he was full of shit and just trying to make me feel better about the whole thing." She hit Luke again on the chest.

"Hey. Why do I keep getting hit?" he asked playfully.

Penelope stuck her tongue out at him. JJ glanced to Derek who had the same question in his eyes that she did. "So you two really aren't together though?" she asked gently.

"I thought you didn't want to pry." Luke had a big smile on his face as he teased JJ so she knew he meant it in jest.

"Sorry. Sorry, it's just this is us trying to wrap our heads around something that you're already over. Just give us a minute to catch up, and then we'll be fine."

"Oh, Honey. Don't worry about it. I can see how this would all be overwhelming if you didn't know about it. But, no, we are not together." She smiled at Luke who smiled back.

JJ nodded, but Derek spoke finally. "Well, that's odd because I don't think I've ever gotten along this well with an ex." He gestured towards the two on the bed.

"What ex? One night stands don't count as relationships, even if you let them stay the whole weekend," Penelope teased him.

"Hey, hey, Crazy. Hush your mouth please." He smiled at her.

"Derek's point is valid, like I said downstairs." JJ glanced between the three different people in the room. "And I don't know if I'm the only one who ever thought this. I wanted you two to date, but it wasn't happening, so I let it go temporarily, but I did think if you ever did you wouldn't… break up." JJ turned up one side of her face trying to indicate she really wasn't trying to make them talk about a tough subject. "Not the why, but maybe the how?"

Penelope took a deep breath and looked to Luke who just shrugged his shoulders, indicating he never cared one way or the other. "Well we just were under a lot of pressure and made a couple of dumb decisions. We didn't mean to do anything to each other, but we did anyway. But we were friends, and we know each other well enough that we didn't hold on to the bad part just because we couldn't handle being together anymore." Penelope felt like she was sharing too much and being too vague all at the same time. She might talk to them about it one day, but today wasn't going to be that day.

Derek furrowed his brow trying to sort out what that meant. "Well, hey, it's just good to know that whatever happened, you two didn't break each other in pieces, so I guess, if you're casual about all this, then we will be too. No reason for all of us to be freaked out now." He wanted to know everything, but he could tell his Baby Girl was not going to be divulging anything until she felt well and ready to do so.

Luke heard his phone vibrating from his room, and he shifted off the bed to retrieve it. JJ noticed that his bag was very much in the other room. He picked up the phone, clearly talking to Layla.

"So, uh, I guess, can I just ask, maybe the when? So that I can try to figure out just how I missed all this." JJ gently laid a hand on Penelope's cross-legged knee.

"Uh, well, it actually makes sense now, what Luke said. We sort of hung out for a while. You know sometimes with you all, sometimes without. That was going on since… well, if I'm honest, since almost the beginning. But umm, the dating thing it just happened gradually, and I suppose when we were in the thick of it is when we were chasing the Challenger. Everyone was frazzled. You all were travelling back and forth. Most of you were separated from your children and families. People were scared and moving back and forth in between safe houses and chasing the guy. Instead of seeing if I left with Alvez every night, you were thinking about how you hadn't seen your babies in two weeks. I should've known Luke knew. He knows all sorts of things when it comes to people's feelings. I think he's empathic," Penelope said the last part contemplatively.

"Still, every night?" JJ said almost embarrassed.

"Oh, come on. Half the time we were the only ones who left since we didn't have any family nearby to worry about. I guess it makes sense that we always left when you all stayed there or were carted off in secret to see your loved ones. No matter what we had been through, we hadn't been through that," Penelope said comfortingly.

"I was around too, Sweetheart. I didn't notice either," Derek interjected.

"And you weren't distracted thinking about how you put your family in danger just by having a past in the FBI, that just because you quit didn't mean they were safe? Come on, you were under your own stress too." Penelope actually saw how much sense it made now. Thinking back, she remembered everyone was frayed and unravelling, and rarely did they have time to talk to each other even though they were always together.

"Okay, fair enough. So was it not that serious or something? I guess I still don't understand why you never said anything," Derek asked her. He knew he pushed too far when he saw her sigh.

"It's just I didn't want to talk about it. I thought you all felt like JJ did. I assumed everyone knew how much I liked him, and you saw straight through me, so I didn't want any of the heckling about how I finally gave in, and all of you were right," Penelope said, avoiding the question about the seriousness of the relationship.

JJ nodded. "Okay, I can understand that. It's nice to _tell_ your friends something rather than have them already know."

"Believe me, if I'd known this was a secret, I would never have told you, just for the sheer happiness of successfully hiding something from you all." Penelope was trying to tease, but she hoped that they weren't truly hurt over her keeping things to herself.

Both Derek and JJ smiled at her.

Luke came back into the doorway, one hand on the wall as he leaned through, holding his cell to his chest. "Layla wants to know if you have a pair of black heels she can borrow or if she needs to bring two bags." Luke was already annoyed with his demanding sister.

"I have the Manolos and the Jimmy's," Penelope informed him.

"The who and the where?" Luke asked bewildered. Suddenly there was the loud voice coming through the phone. Luke rolled his eyes and brought the phone up to his ear. "Layla, I'm going to put you on speaker. Try not to embarrass yourself." He hit the button.

A giggly voice suddenly filled the room. "Long story short, my rash cleared up, and I no longer have to get tested every week. Oh, what? Did you say something big brother?" Layla started giggling like crazy.

"She's an emergency room surgeon, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you all feel safe at hospitals from now on." Luke raised an eyebrow at both JJ and Derek's laughing faces.

"Hey, fuck off. I'm so good at doctoring and shit," Layla said annoyed.

Penelope finally broke into the conversation. "Lay, Honey. I have the Manolos and the Jimmy's."

"Oh perfect! I need them, if I plan on wearing my dress that basically shows my vag-"

"Okay, that's enough, Sis. Everyone will see for themselves. Don't ruin the surprise." Luke was trying his hardest not to kill his sister through the phone.

"God. Fine. Whatever. Jeez, calm down, Bro. Penny and I are obviously much more fun than you are. No wonder she dumped you. Get the stick out of your ass." Layla scoffed at him.

"Lay, don't even try. He's not going to let his guard down because the only people here are the people we work with, and you know how that goes." Penelope rolled her eyes as if Layla was right there.

"I'm sorry. Everyone sees me here holding the damn phone, right?" Luke waved a hand around.

Both JJ and Derek laughed at the show they were watching. "Well, that blows. Why are you so chill with Phillip but a fucking tight wad with everyone you work with now? Too much vulnerability? Do you need to talk about it?" Layla asked condescendingly.

Penelope was giggling. "Okay Lay. Don't worry about it. You will have plenty of time to give him new ulcers when you get here. He's terrified that you're coming, so you can take comfort in that."

"I certainly didn't invite you," Luke agreed.

"Aww, I love you too, Lukey Boo. Well, I will say this. I am not looking forward to you making me tone it down, and I also heard there are children present, so does that mean I can't host the orgy this time?" Layla asked in a completely serious tone.

Luke put his hand to his forehead and held the phone out away from his body as if trying to distance himself from his sister. "Lay, there are children, and you will have to have to try and rein it in, Boo." Penelope gave Luke a smile as she said it.

"Fine, fine. I'll be an adult or something. Alright, I'm going to finish packing and head down to Phil's. I'll see you losers tomorrow. Are you two back together yet? And you told them? I thought I was supposed to keep it a secret." Layla asked her first genuine question.

"Don't worry about it. Conejito ran her mouth and didn't listen to me, and now everyone is aware we dated," Luke said sticking his neck out at Penelope who was sticking her tongue out at him again.

"Everything?" Layla asked slowly.

"Uh, no, so maybe just shut your face," Luke said to her.

"Geesh, fine. I was just asking to make sure I knew what I should tell Phil. You're the one that told us to say nothing, and now we can only say some things, and this is my fault? Yeesh."

"No, Boo. That's my fault, but thank you," Penelope told her.

"Okay. Well whatever. See you asshats tomorrow. Probably afternoon or evening. I mean, well, at some point. Whatever, I'll have Phil text you when we're close. Bye. Love you, Penny. You too, Bro, I guess. I mean, I wouldn't run into a burning building for you, but I'd fuck the firefighter who saved you so you didn't have to send a card."

JJ and Derek were full on laughing, and Penelope was giggling as well but more immune to Layla's antics. "Bye, Layla. If you get lost, don't worry about it. Just stay where you are, and never contact me again." Luke hit the disconnect before she could answer back. "Well, I'd hide your children if I were you." Luke spoke to the two chuckling people in the room.

"Your sister sounds like a riot, and, to be honest, I'm interested in seeing this fun different side of you." JJ teased.

Luke nodded, a smile across his face, accepting that these people were only just beginning to learn things about him this week. "Well, this is just going to go peachy, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, Baby. There's a ton of wine in the cellar. We can just get them all drunk, so they embarrass themselves, and don't remember anything about you." Penelope teased him.

"Thanks, Love. That makes me feel better. No, but really." He put his hand to his chest giving her a mock heartfelt look. Then he moved to sit next to her on the bed, and she looped her arm through his as she scrunched her nose at him. He let his hand fall on her knee as he smiled at her.

Both JJ and Derek were bewildered again at the seemingly lovely relationship that they were witnessing but had been told was no more. JJ opened then shut her mouth, before standing up. "Okay. Well, we'll be heading to bed now, so we can get up bright and early for the beach. I think I stayed up here long enough to make sure that Will had to put the kids to bed and not me."

"Good night, my lovelies." Penelope gave them a small wave of her fingers. She could see the wheels in Derek's head turning. "See you in the morning, Hot Stuff. You brought your speedo, right?"

Derek shook his head. "No wonder you get along so well with Layla. I almost forgot how naughty you were."

She gasped loudly and put her hand to heart. "Well, clearly I haven't been harassing you enough lately. Don't worry. I'll remedy that this week."

He laughed and walked out with JJ, both bidding goodnight to Luke before departing.

When the two of them got to the first landing between floors, JJ stopped to whisper to Derek. "What on earth is happening?"

"JJ, I have no idea. It makes no sense. They're not together, but they're perfectly fine with each other, but they still had a big enough fight to break up. Apparently, she had enough time to get close to his family and friends outside of us, so what the hell?" Derek arched an eyebrow at JJ.

"Hey, I hear ya. I'm so lost. But I'll say this. I've never been more convinced they should be together than I am now. I won't push her, but, damn it, I wish she would open up to me so I could at least know what's so unforgivable to actually break up." JJ shook her head, sighing at Derek before descending the stairs, completely miffed that even with more information they somehow knew less than they had known before they went up.


	4. Chapter 4

If you follow my other stories you know why I've been out of commission. I appreciate the reviews and everyone reaching out. My life is still a mess right now but thank you for the support. I updated two of my stories already this week and will try to update another tomorrow.

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"Sweetheart. Sweetheart, we have to get going soon." Luke's low voice was slowly waking Penelope. He heard her murmur, but her eyes were closed as she wiggled around. She turned around when she felt the dip in the bed from him sitting down. "Baby, we have to get going. It's after ten already. You still have to shower. We need to grab breakfast, and then we have to head to town soon, if you still want to make it to the beach for a bit."

She sleepily opened her eyes, peering up at him. She gave him a flirty shy smile. "Or we can just cuddle for a little while."

"Mi amada, you know I'm not going to say no to you, but you also know that we won't make it to the beach if we start out too late." He was rubbing her shoulder.

She bit her lip. "Oh well, the beach is overrated. Your abs aren't." She smiled as she saw him lift up the covers and get in the bed.

"How long do you want to stay here?" He asked. He'd hoped she would want her morning cuddle. She always loved it, and they were able to with all the privacy and time they had.

"Just until I wake up." She settled her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his waist as he pulled her close.

"Whatever you want."

"You still have your sweats on. Don't tell me you were ready to go. You knew I was going to drag you into bed." She yawned as she snuggled into his chest.

"I had my suspicions, but I did shower already. I just didn't put on real pants, but I'm only wearing shorts today anyway since we are at the beach." He started rubbing concentric circles on her back.

"That makes sense. I guess I should put on a summer dress, or, if we think we'll make it back in time, I can put on my swimsuit and cover up." She was thinking out loud.

"I don't think they're staying at the beach until evening, Carina."

"They can walk there. It's literally right there." She peeked over her shoulder. "I bet they stay the whole day. The majority of the kids are at camp, and heaven-sent Amanda will wrangle the others."

"Whatever you say, so you better wear that swimsuit then and the coverup that basically just lets your boobs fall out. I think that's your best bet." He said casually, but he caught her eye when she looked up to him with an eye roll.

"Sure, that's an appropriate outfit on a public beach."

"Baby, you realize that, when anyone goes to the beach, they're basically in underwear just made from different fabric." Luke ran his hand down her arm.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, but I mean everyone we work with is basically going to see the entire top side of my boobs. Like it stops at the nipple and not a centimeter higher. It's a lot of flesh, and it's unapologetic."

"That's the best part." He assured her as he glared down at her chest happily snug in his shirt. He watched as her nipples pebbled under his gaze and then smirked at her.

She pushed at his chest. "Shut up. You remember how sensitive they are. You did that on purpose."

"Damn right."

"Anyway, we'll get some breakfast, and then we'll head into town. We should be back by four, and we can lounge with them out there until Phil and Lay get here." She was alert now and picking at the invisible lint on his shirt.

His wide grin was plastered on his face. He loved that she was making plans for the both of them. He accepted that, if she were going to town with anyone else, she'd still need a plan, but for them, it wasn't even an option to split up the whole day. It was a given that they were a team in this. "You wanted to wait on purpose to avoid the breakfast club downstairs, didn't you?"

She pulled his wrist towards her to check his watch. "I was trying to be discreet, but yeah, I guess you would know that. I just don't want to see all of their questioning gazes staring at me all at once."

"Well, assuming they stick to schedule, they should all be headed out within the half hour, so it will be just you and me here." He didn't try to disguise the lust in his eyes, but he was also aware it would go unrequited.

"Luke, you know you can easily seduce me if you wanted to, but that's unfair." She gave him a pout.

"That power goes both ways, as you are fully aware." He lowered his voice as he spoke. She simpered, which made him groan, "Penelope," he said in warning.

She started to tangle her leg with his. "Sorry, I was just thinking, and you know what happens when I start thinking."

"Yes, I know." He brought her hand down to brush lightly against his erection. "So please realize what you are doing right now."

She gave a wistful sigh, wanting nothing more than to take care of what she had just felt, what she missed about him, or at least one thing that she missed about him. "I know, I know. I'm not there, and this would be creating a problem, and we agreed not to create a problem," she said sadly. If only things were simple.

"We need to get going then. I'll go downstairs and get some breakfast for us while you get ready, okay?" He leaned in and kissed her hairline.

She nodded against his chest and pushed the blankets down as she flipped her legs off the bed. Luke was laying still as she started rummaging through her bag to get out the swimsuit and coverup. She knew he hadn't moved. She could feel his eyes watching her. "You cooking that breakfast long distance?" she asked teasingly.

"No, I was going to wait until my hard-on went down to go downstairs in case anyone is still here, but now I'm watching your butt in those panties, and I'm going to have to wait another minute or two," he answered honestly.

She had all her stuff in her hand. She saw him unabashadley laying back against the pillow with his head resting on his hand that he'd brought to the back of his head, his erection very evident in his sweatpants. She stared at it. It was impossible not to, and then she took a deep breath. "I'm going to take that cold shower now, and I better have some type of decent breakfast when I get out."

He waited until he heard the bathroom door close across the hall before sitting up and sighing. He wiggled his toes around and then stretched his neck and his arms, letting his erection dissipate before he changed into his swim trunks and headed downstairs.

….

Penelope came down not too much later. She had avoided washing her hair, so instead all she did was put a few curls in it. She had put on her halter top swimsuit that was white and pink. It dipped dangerously low in the front and pushed her breasts up impeccably high. The bottoms were more revealing than she'd remembered. When she bought them, she was _trying_ to get Luke to stare at her ass so he would drag her off the beach and back to the house. So on top, she put a thigh length cover up over it. It was netted and was a nude-pink-colored long sleeve. She would almost look naked if you couldn't see the slightly darker pink color underneath. She dropped her bag on the stool next to where she took a seat at the kitchen. She grabbed a piece of toast from the plate Luke had obviously made for them to share off of. After a sip of her orange juice, she looked up at him. He had been pulling something out of the fridge when she came down, but now he was staring at her.

"What?" she questioned him a little worried.

"You know I love that cover up. Maybe it was bad advice I gave you." He reached down and adjusted himself in his white board shorts.

She giggled. "I think you like a bit of torture."

"So we're heading to the bakery and the market, is that it?" He grabbed some fruit off of the plate that he had filled.

"Yeah, I think so. There's enough food and alcohol. We don't need any supplies since we're fully stocked."

"Okay, and then I get to stare at you while you lay on the beach?" He smirked at her.

"Oh please, those hotties out there always hit on you, and you're allowed to stare back now." She informed him.

"I don't want to stare back," he sighed exhaustedly.

"Really? Not sure you made that clear," she chided. Then she saw him lean back against the fridge, frustrated. "Sorry. I know we agreed not to do that to each other."

"We did, Penelope. We're not together, but we're not apart either. It's like we're exclusively single or something. I get you don't want to be together right now, but you know I do. I promised not to pressure you, but I will not let you push me away either, so don't play any games with me, Chica. I'll call you out on them." He grabbed the piece of toast she had in her hand and took a bite before handing it back to her.

She gave a resigned sigh. "I know, I'm just a little insecure and fragile still. You can't blame me for that, and I act out sometimes, but you know I don't mean it." She turned her lips in as she examined the counter.

"I know." He brought his hand up to her head and brushed a piece of hair back before giving her a forgiving smile. "Let's get going. I am getting you on the beach today." He picked up the plate and started walking it to the sink.

"I am not walking around in my swimsuit in front of my coworkers." She told him matter of factly.

He spun around to look at her. "Are you seriously going to act shy in front of them?" He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Luke, I only took my cover up off last time we were here because people in your family and their spouses are different sizes and colors, and I knew they didn't notice details. But these people are trained to see details, and I have to see them all the time at work. I do not want them knowing about stretch marks that peek out between my bottoms and my top," she explained.

"We went over this. Since when are you insecure? You're not. Everyone knows that, so why?"

"Luke, they haven't seen you with your shirt off. I know that for a fact because, if they had, all the girls would have fainted by now." She winked at him making him shyly chuckle.

"But they will see me today. I'm taking off this shirt once I get to the sand," he told her.

"Yup, and then they'll all be even more confused about us dating," she said casually.

He pushed off from the counter and paced a little bit clenching and unclenching his fists. "Penelope," he gritted out through his teeth, "you're insulting the person I love, and I don't like it."

"Oh come on, Luke. Look at the other girls you've gone out with, classic beauties with beach bodies to match." She knew he loved her, knew he was turned on by her, and so were a lot of men. Men liked a lot of things. But if they didn't meet at work, she had seriously doubted he would've seen her somewhere, with a huge feather in her hair and a loud dress on, and stopped in his tracks to stare at her in awe.

"Penelope, sometimes you just date, to date. If you look different than someone I've dated, it doesn't mean I find you less attractive. Have you seen me ogle you?" He was leaning across the counter looking at her sternly.

She shrugged. "Yeah I guess but that girl you-"

He held up his hand to make her stop. "I couldn't have picked her out of a line up at the time, Penelope, and I'm the fucking agent. That's how drunk I was. I have no fucking clue what she looked like until I realized who it was the next day."

Penelope bobbed her head. She knew the story. "I know, but, Luke, even before - look what I mean - I know I'm attractive. Derek, Rossi, and Matt have complimented me in the the past twenty-four hours. Being attractive is not the same thing as drop dead gorgeous, and, believe me, you are." She wasn't sad. She was factual.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. When we first met, I looked at your legs, and I definitely checked out your cleavage. I remember," he told her.

"Yeah, and people do that at first meetings. You trying to tell me you've never looked down JJ's shirt when you're working out together." She arched an eyebrow.

"No, not like that. You could probably describe her body better than I could. We're all human and notice each other, but I don't check out my colleagues like that. I can probably describe Matt's arms as well as I can describe Prentiss'." He tilted his head in contemplation. "Actually, probably better.

"So what you're saying is I'm not professional enough for you to respect at first glance." She was egging him on, but she couldn't stop herself.

"No, what I'm saying is that you are my type. You were confident, individual, and surly. We had chemistry the moment we met; you just decided to make it angry chemistry for a while. Your exes all look different, don't they? So maybe you don't really like my body type. Ever thought of that?"

"Have you seen your abs? Everybody likes your body type." She tilted her head to indicate she thought he was full of shit.

"Whatever. Do what makes you feel comfortable, but I guarantee you those people that love you enough to take their vacation with you don't actually care about your barely-there stretch marks all that much. Which by the way, a lot of people have." He shook his head, not believing he was having this argument.

"Honey, I am confident. I am. I know that I can get a date at a club if I felt like it. I know men check me out but, seriously, Babe, I just can't let people I know see me in only spandex underwear. I'd probably let them see me in lacy underwear. That's my sweet spot." She giggled.

His face broke out in a smile. "So what you're saying is it's just the swimsuit, not the body confidence?"

"Yes. I can look pretty seductive in my lingerie or a short dress, but swimsuits are another animal, so just leave it." She gestured to her chest. "Look at this coverup. It doesn't cover much at all, it's short, and my legs and thighs are on display, but the way it curves in makes my long legs look really nice. I'm confident in this outfit, okay?"

"Alright." He nodded, and his body language relaxed.

"But you know if you want me to walk around in my underwear and that black lace bra, then I will. I know everybody would like that." She smirked at him.

"Okay, you've made your point. Different fabrics and situations make you feel different. I understand. I am rarely confident in that ugly sweater and khakis my abuela insists on me wearing to church." He nodded.

"Okay, so can we go?" She watched him pick up her bag preparing to carry it for her. She put a hand on his chest as he came around the counter. "Luke, I didn't mean what I said about them wondering why you dated me. I was just being obnoxious. I know that you and I match pretty perfectly. I was just- all I'm saying is that if there were a model on your arm, nobody would think twice about her being there. I'm not selling myself short. I'm just saying, well I don't know what I'm saying." She gave him a sad smile.

He put his hands in her hair again and kissed her forehead letting his lips linger. "I still lo- still care about you, so please just don't make problems that don't exist." He felt her nod and let his chin brush against her forehead. "Let's head out."

She followed him through the kitchen and living room, and then, when they got to the porch, she switched out her regular glasses for sunglasses before hooking her arm through his. "One request though. Can I rub the sunscreen or oil or hell, butter on you? When we get to the beach later?"

He threw his head back laughing. "I'm going to require that or else you won't get your foot rub tonight."

She gasped in mock horror. "You wouldn't."

"Better not to test me." He winked as they made their way to the car to start their first full day of vacation.

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I still have a crapload of stuff happening in my personal life but I will try to get updates out in a timely manner. However, I might try to get to my stories that have more follows or favs, first, so I make fewer readers wait that way. This one and Signals don't seem to be as popular so might be a longer wait than When or Cash. Thanks for reading! Sorry I've had no time to reply lately. I appreciate all of you.

Thanks BookDragon2013 for reading through a bunch of my stuff lately!


	5. Chapter 5

Update on my life; it's still a shit storm. Updates on other updates; I'm trying my best. Thanks for reviews, favs and follows they are lovely to see.

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"Look, all I'm saying is, it doesn't make any sense. Why would she - why would they have a secret relationship, break up, and then still be all," Derek held a football in his hand as he opened his arms wide trying to find the right words, "...affectionate." He scanned the people sitting around in a semi circle on beach chairs and towels in the nearby sand.

"Well, it's clear that Luke is more private, so I don't think it was keeping a secret so much as living how he would anyway," Will added into the conversation.

"True. I guess I'm still pretty upset with all of us. How did we not see it, and more than that how did we not see them suffering when they broke up. They must've both been hurting," Emily stated as Mark sat behind her on their beach towel. He rubbed her back in comfort.

"I was around too. I didn't see it. We were all very distracted," Hotch said leaning forward in his chair.

"I know that you're all very close, but, honestly, you don't know everything about one another do you?" Mark asked.

"That's what I said. I get that you know a lot, but you can't figure out _everything_. Right?" Kristy asked.

"Still too much sometimes, although it seems they can be pretty dense when they choose to." Savannah added smiling up at Derek.

"I was thinking about it last night. To be honest, us not seeing it, that makes sense. That case was… but it's the after part. This whole thing where they are broken up. Now that I look back, I can see where they were more affectionate than before, and, when the jokes became less catty and more playful, it was subtle. There wasn't actually that much of a shift. But breaking up? Why? They're so perfect for each other, it hurts," JJ said emotionally. She hated her friend not being happy, and she knew Luke made Penelope happy even before she admitted it.

"I agree with JJ. Luke's one of my best friends. They make a perfect couple. I thought it would take a lot more of a push to get them together, which I would've been willing to help with, had I known." Matt smirked at JJ. "I never thought they'd break up either," he added with a shrug.

"So what are we talking about? Playing some matchmaker thing? It looks like they can get together just fine without us." Derek's tone was almost bitter, making the others snigger.

"All I'm saying is that we obviously dropped the ball in the friend department. We assumed because they were both single and didn't have kids or parents to worry about that they didn't need our support, and they obviously did. Whatever they broke up over can't be that bad, and we should let them know that whatever difficulties they went through are probably over now so they should feel free to lean on us to get themselves back on track." JJ looked around at the various people surrounding her for some support.

"JJ's right. I bet they broke up because they were so strained. You can't build a new relationship when you're trying to make sure your friends are safe and not depressed because they can't see their own families. Garcia was running around making us eat and sleep. Luke was the pillar of strength. He was the steady hand. We all leaned on both of them. I know I did," Emily added resolutely.

Derek nodded. He had to get involved. Almost everyone who had ever been part of the team had to. He remembered feeling as lost as anyone. He went to Penelope multiple times to talk it out, but he never asked her more about herself than a _how are you doing_. Luke asked Derek multiple times about Savannah and Hank, but he couldn't remember ever even asking Luke if he wanted a coffee.

"Okay. You're right. I didn't see it before, but you're right. We put everything on them, and they didn't let us down." Derek set the football on a beach bag before taking a seat in his own chair. "So what do we do?"

"Boy's night," Will murmured. "We might not all be sharing our feelings like ya'll ladies do, but we don't just stare at each other while having a burping contest either. He might tell us something."

"I agree. We can make dinner for the kids, and Amanda can take it from there." Matt put in.

"We can split up for dinner, girls and guys, and then meet up at the bar afterwards. No pressure that way." Emily tipped her head.

"Perfect, so it's set then. We'll get to the bottom of this," JJ said.

"Not to put a damper on this, but aren't Luke's sister and partner going to be here?" Hotch asked.

"Well, I'm sure we can just bring them along. Maybe they'll want the same thing for them," Savannah said.

"They definitely do. We heard Layla on speaker phone last night. She asked if they worked through their bullshit yet, and if they were back together. So whatever it is, she wants them together too," Derek told the group.

"Heads up. Here they come." Mark sat up straight and pointed his chin toward Penelope and Luke coming down the pathway.

"I'll text Tara, and let her know to fill the others in," Kristy said as she pulled out her phone.

The group was a little too silent as the other two people got to them. "Hey, my beautiful butterflies. What's up?" Penelope chirped happily.

The group all murmured various degrees of nothing and comments about soaking up sun. Luke crossed his arms, looking at the group as a whole. They exchanged glances, knowing he could read them, even if she couldn't.

"I think some of us have had too many wine coolers," Will drawled.

"Well, everyone should drink some water then. Sun plus alcohol will really dehydrate you." Luke pretended to scold everyone.

Penelope shook her head and pulled her curls back into a ponytail. The sun was now beating down on her, and she was not going to sit around sweating. "Okay kids, what's the haps?" Her long neck now exposed, she bent over to take off her flip flops to dig her feet into the sand.

"Holy hell, Penelope your boobs are going to fall out." JJ laughed.

"Don't worry. They're actually sort of compressed down on the inside," she informed her.

Emily put her sunglasses on her head. "They're compressed? Seriously? I feel like I haven't gone through puberty yet."

"You look sort of naked, but clothed at the same time. How do you do that?" Kristy tilted her head at her.

"See, I told you this was a terrible decision. I should've worn my sunflower dress." Penelope admonished Luke.

"Uh, I've got news for you. That covers even less than this does because there's no swimsuit underneath." He shrugged at her.

"You're telling me this now? I wore that in front of your grandmother!"

"You know what, I _have_ had too many wine coolers. Whenever I get too drunk, I get the urge to touch Garcia's boobs," Emily informed everyone.

"Me too. I like to fall asleep on them," JJ added.

"I don't think it's the wine coolers. I've only had one, and I sort of want to feel them too." Savannah said examining Penelope's chest.

"Well, this is just great. You're all less than helpful." Penelope rolled her eyes at them, but it was partially hidden by her shaded glasses.

All the men besides Luke wisely kept quiet, but were chuckling at the exchange. "Wait, so you have something to wear that covers even less? How is that possible? Are your boobs like the wardrobe to Narnia?" Kristy looked to the other women for support, and she got agreeing nods.

"Well, I'm not going to wear that dress now!" She informed them all.

"Doesn't matter. Unless you're wearing my shirts the rest of the time we're here, you only packed your summer dresses, and every single one of those barely keeps you contained so..." Luke shrugged his shoulders.

"What? Wait! Since when?" She was holding her hand up to shade her forehead to look at him.

"Since you bought them. You don't wear real bras with them. You wear that lacy half thing under it, so it's just spaghetti straps and a low neckline." He looked at her like she should know this.

"Why wouldn't you tell me? I would have packed more of my regular clothes."

"That does not seem like it would be in my best interests," Luke said nonchalantly, making the whole group laugh. They definitely found Luke flirting blatantly amusing, as well as informative.

Penelope turned an evil eye to all of them, before huffing and sitting down in one of the open beach chairs.

"We want to go out tonight. We'll split up for dinner, guys and girls, and then meet back up for dancing later at the bar. Sound good?" Matt asked the two newcomers.

"Whatever you guys want. Layla called me. She changed her story. She and Phil are actually going to pick up a friend instead of meeting here, so they detoured. They might make it tonight, or they might stay out somewhere. She'll call either way," Luke told them.

"Cool. Do we need to give up our bigger room?" Emily said. "It's just us two after all."

"Nah, Phil is sorted out, and their friend can take the small bedroom up top with us, and Layla can take Luke's room," Penelope said without mentioning that that left Luke bedless.

JJ snickered. "So you two are going to share?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Newsflash, this isn't a newsflash."

"Still, I don't like any of my exes that much," Savannah said to them, making Penelope shrug and stay quiet.

Luke pulled his shirt off and threw it on the back of Penelope's chair. "Okay, well, I'm going to avoid the covert interrogation by taking my toxic masculinity over there and throwing this ball in the air. Any other testosterone fueled individuals that want to join, may do so at your convenience." Luke tossed the ball he picked up from where Derek left it and trotted away towards where Amanda was with the two children that weren't old enough for day camp.

"Holy hell! Why have I never seen Luke shirtless before?" JJ asked, letting her sunglasses fall down her nose as she watched him walk away.

"I know! What the- how did I not - I mean I knew he was muscular, but holy crap!" Emily added, her eyes following Luke.

"You can say that again," Both Kristy and Savannah said at the same time as they watched Luke let Michael try to hold the ball he had.

"Well, I feel like chopped liver," Will said as he tickled JJ's sides.

"That's putting it mildly," Hotch interjected with a sly smile.

"Sorry, hun," Emily turned her head but not her eyes to Mark, "but you see the definition on that man, right? The indents on the side and the…" Emily trailed off as she continued to admire him from afar.

"As if I'm not here," Derek said incredulously.

"Aww, Hot Stuff. It's okay." Penelope cooed at him.

"You're very pretty, honey." Savannah put a comforting hand on his knee without actually diverting her attention from Luke. "You see him though, right? That's insane." Savannah tilted her head as she watched Luke pick up their son and spin him while he giggled.

Matt shared a sympathetic look with Derek. "I'm not sure I've ever felt so invisible."

"Aww," Kristy said patting his face but not turning to her husband either.

"You're all studs. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Penelope was the only woman looking at the men still sitting in the group, who all gave her grateful nods.

"Oh, please. You're trying to tell me you're not speechless when he gets naked? C'mon," JJ said, distractedly joining the conversation.

"Oh yeah, for sure. You haven't seen anything yet. You should ask him to move your furniture with his shirt off. Also his skin is like a perfectly tanned color which is why those white shorts make it impossible not to look at that..." She made a v motion with her hand. "And he smells like as if rainbows and dreams exploded in a majestic handsome factory made of stars… but we have sort of a truce going on. So he's basically like the sun. I can't look directly at him." Penelope shrugged.

The whole group laughed at her explanation, but she was as serious as a heart attack. She joked about rubbing him down with oil or sunscreen, but there was no way in hell she would be able do that and not get arrested for indecent behavior.

"Well, I think I'll just go hang out with Alvez instead of hearing about how hot he is." Derek stood up.

The other men were standing up as well. "Yeah, me too," Matt nodded. "Although, he is pretty attractive."

The men chuckled as they went to join Luke. "Are we ever going to get details on this because now I really want to know," JJ asked saucily.

"Oh Jayge, I'd love to, but it's not the best idea for me to drudge all that up right now."

"You don't have to go into some emotional upheaval, but you can tell us how much fun it was to wake up with that next to you." Savannah tipped her wine cooler to where Luke was throwing the football to Matt.

"We all can imagine, I'm sure." Penelope had a cheshire grin on her face.

"Sure, but we can also get details," Emily said as she took a sip of her drink.

"Really, you sure you want details about Alvez? That's something you need to know?" Penelope wasn't sure Em thought this through.

"I mean…" JJ trailed off, "We can compartmentalize information with the best of them." She encouraged.

"Ladies, we all know it was amazing." Penelope rolled her eyes as she reached for a water bottle in the cooler near her.

"Was?" Emily asked cheekily.

"Were you not listening when we explained what a break up was?"

"You're just so couple-y." Kristy said.

Penelope squinted through her glasses. "Yesterday, my dear profilers, you didn't know we'd ever been together."

"Okay, fair." Emily said.

"But yes since now that you know, I have not exactly kept my guard up. We were together, and it was amazing, and I miss him everyday."

"It doesn't seem like you have to miss him if you don't want to." Kristy cooed at her.

"It's… yeah, sort of, but it's just all too much for me right now. I just can't do it." Penelope said vaguely.

"Penelope, I know we're sort of nosy-" JJ started.

"Sort of?" Penelope asked dryly.

"But I can say for myself, I always wanted you together. From the minute I saw you two awkwardly have your first closed off conversation, I was damn sure of it. So I'll admit I'm wracking my brain to try and figure out what could have possibly gone wrong."

"I know I'm not around as often, but I agree with JJ. For you two to break up, it seems it would have to be pretty significant, and, if it was, then I can't imagine you two would be so happy to be around each other still." Kristy added.

Penelope sighed. Wasn't that the conundrum after all? "I know, and part of me feels like talking it all out, but the majority of me wants to pretend it never happened."

"The relationship?" Savannah asked with her forehead creased.

"No, no. God, no. I love remembering that. I mean the… " She paused, unsure how to describe this. "The event that took place, that I just can't seem to feel better about."

"Okay, well, I guess I'll just say, I hope you two work it out." JJ gave her an earnest smile.

"Yeah, me too. Me too." Penelope sighed as she decided to chance a lingering gaze at Luke who

was laughing as he ran to catch the football.

The girls followed her gaze and then gave each other conspiratorial, albeit, baffled looks.


	6. Chapter 6

If you follow my other stories you know I am attempting to update in a rotation that makes sense. Sometimes this doesn't happen. My bad. I appreciate all the reviews, favs, and follows.

Here comes Layla!

* * *

"Ready everyone?" Rossi called out across the living room where the nearly twenty adults were standing around in nice dinner attire.

"We are still waiting on the not-so-in-love, lovebirds," Mark said.

As he said it, Luke came down the back steps, walking into the kitchen, making his way through to the living room. "Ow ow," Rossi half howled. "No need to have dressed so nice, Luke. Apparently the ladies are very impressed with you shirtless."

Luke chuckled. "Well thanks, but I think there's probably a dress code."

"Yeah. No worries, this is a good look too." Kristy nodded in approval. He had on a navy blue suit that was impeccably tailored to fit his body and a true-black button-up underneath with the top couple of buttons left undone.

"Chyeah," both Tara and Emily said at the same time as they admired him as well.

"This is all getting very disturbing." Hotch mentioned dryly from his spot.

Luke tried to stand off to the side, as if that would make him less the center of attention. "Uh, Penny is ready, but she was talking to my sister about whether or not they were going to drive the rest of the way tonight," he explained why she was missing.

"No worries. You boys go ahead. We'll meet at the club at ten," Hayden said as she kissed Dave's cheek.

All the gentlemen filed through the doorway. Piling into their large rental, they were thankful they had it so they only needed one designated driver. Rossi pulled out cigars, handing them back from his place in the front passenger's seat. "Here, boys. We're going to smell like a cigar factory mixed with scotch tonight."

Almost all of the men took a cigar as they settled into the seats. Mark opted to be the designated, since he felt that most of the other men needed the bonding time more than him. He only met up with these people once or twice a year when him and Emily could sort it out.

"So, Luke? You do realize that we've all been instructed to debrief you about your very secret relationship," Hotch said in a monotone, but he had a hint of a smile as he spoke.

Luke was in the middle row, and he didn't even bother to turn around to acknowledge the comment.

"Yeah, it's the only reason the ladies let us out of their sight. It was a divide and conquer situation," Will added.

"I have no idea what any of you want me to say," Luke said casually.

"Well normally I'm not into this gossip stuff, but, at the same time, I feel like I am in the dark when it comes to my Angel. I do not like that." Derek punctuated the last words.

"Oh please, Morgan. I think what you mean is you don't like to be jealous," Reid teased him.

Derek turned around and threw the pen he had in his pocket at Spencer as the rest of them laughed.

"Either way, the ladies are not going to be pleased if we come back with nothing," Matt said nicely.

"Sorry, boys. I've got nothing for you. I can't imagine what you want me to do. Breakdown the whole story so we can all analyze it? I know we're all evolved, but I can't imagine any of you have a deep-seated need for that kind of bonding. If Penny decides she's fine with us talking to all of you about it and any of you are so inclined, I will happily do so but, are you?" Luke smirked at them.

Rossi sighed. "I think we're all curious, but we don't need the play by play that Hayden seems to believe they need to manipulate the situation."

"Yeah, I mean inquiring minds want to know. How did the two of you break up?" Derek asked.

"Can't go there. I'm not at liberty to say," Luke told them.

"Right. You said that. So what about how long you were together? That can't be a secret," Will asked.

Luke sighed. "I suppose not, not now anyway. I don't know what exactly counts as together, but a year or so."

"A year? I've never felt dumb until right this moment," Reid informed them.

"Seriously? That's a long time to keep something under wraps," Matt said almost betrayed.

"Honestly, at first, we kept it quiet because, well, we practically all live in each other's laps as it is. We wanted something to ourselves. But eventually it became a matter of Penelope assuming everyone already knew and her wanting to prove she could hold out longer than all of you. It just so happened to coincide with the worst time of all of our lives at the BAU," Luke informed them.

"So you were serious." Hotch said informally.

Luke only nodded slightly while keeping his gaze towards the large window, focusing on the scenery outside instead of giving himself away.

"So it just," Derek brought his hand up and let his fingers dance for a second, "fizzled?"

"No," Luke said without any further explanation. Derek gave him a disbelieving look before glancing to the other men around him.

"Okay, so tell us this, son. If we didn't know you, and what happened happened, would we want to kick your ass?" Rossi turned toward the group, but his eyes focused on Luke.

The car was impossibly quiet, and for the first time they could hear the faint sound of the radio, which was turned down so low it was all but muted. Luke waited a moment. "I'm not sure."

The answer made almost everyone in the car sit back in their seats trying to suppress their protective instincts for Penelope. Luke for the very first time actually felt like his Newbie title was in order as he realized that, with the exception of Matt and Mark, who didn't really have skin in the game, he could easily be kicked out of the group without a second thought.

Reid squinted at the back of Luke's head. "You're very loyal, and you've got integrity, so I can't imagine that's like you."

"It's not," Luke said dismissively.

Derek was examining Luke as he sat impassively. He made eye contact with Rossi before asking, "Did you break her heart?"

Luke sighed, "I'm not sure."

It felt like the air was thick in the car, and it wasn't just from the cigar smoke. It was even quieter than it had been before, and Luke didn't know what else he could say or how to get back from where they'd gone, so he stayed quiet.

Reid was squinting down at the seat in front of him as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. Then he blinked. "Did she break yours?"

Luke quickly took the cigar that he'd been holding in his hand and started tapping it against his palm. Then he cleared his throat and answered, "Yes."

Every man in the car now wore an utter look of bewilderment as they tried to sort out what the hell could have gone wrong.

Rossi examined the top of Luke's head, since Luke was now studying the car mat in front of him. He exchanged looks with the rest of the guys, deciding that they needed to change the pace of this conversation before they all needed a therapist instead of a waiter. "How did you two get together? Surely that's not a banned topic."

Luke gave a low chuckle. "You'd be surprised what I can get in trouble for." The others all laughed. "To be completely honest, I'm not really sure. It just kind of happened. We actually got close pretty fast, but she still gave me the same attitude in front of all of you, so I guess it never showed at work. Then, I don't know, whenever one of us wanted to do something outside of work, we just called the other. Eventually it went from that to... not that." Luke knew he wasn't making a lot of sense.

"Uh what?" Matt asked as he glanced at Luke right beside him.

"Okay, for example, back when Reid was in jail, she was crying and upset. That's why I went and threatened Shaw. I made sure he had protection in there. As that was getting sorted out, she would call me, or we'd just go hang out or whatever. We weren't really dating then, but none of you even thought she could stand me so..." Luke shrugged.

"Right and then…" Derek prompted.

"Like I said, I'm not sure. We were hanging out all the time. We hung out more when she came with me to all of Phil's physical therapy stuff. She helped get Lou for him and train him, and after that…" Luke drifted off not sure how to explain it. It was a slow build from friendship that was never really just friendship. They were exclusively dating without dating, and then one day they just made it clear they were actually dating, and that was that.

"But she's hung out with your family, apparently enough that she's close to them. That doesn't just happen. That's deliberate," Hotch said.

"Yeah, eventually it was obviously deliberate, but the whole thing before we were together, I mean that was… I don't know. That's what I'm saying. Maybe we were dating a year, more or less, depending on how you look at it, but we walked around it tentatively for a long time."

"Is that why you broke up? You forgot your anniversary?" Will joked.

Luke laughed. "No, actually I can tell you the exact day we had the conversation that we were officially serious, but the conversation was exactly _we've been dating for a long time, haven't we? Yup. So should we just? Yup. Okay, I'm leaving my stuff here. Okay._ That's it. We were exclusive before we were ever exclusive."

"I already have a headache." Mark finally chimed in again as he pulled into a spot in front of the restaurant Dave had chosen.

"Hey, I was there. My migraine hasn't gone away since I joined the BAU," Luke said dryly, bringing another round of laughter.

"Okay, no more of this until the women force us again," Rossi said tipping his cigar at them before getting out of the car.

…

At exactly ten o'clock, the eight men who had been thoroughly enjoying their after dinner cigars, loudly made their way into the club where they were meeting the ladies. As they walked in, they looked around, scanning for the women they were meeting. Luckily Penelope was walking back from the bathroom when she saw the brood obnoxiously looming around the entryway.

"Really boys? How annoying can you be? You're in the way." Penelope stood in front of the group with her hand on her hip.

"Damn, you weren't kidding." Derek glanced briefly at Luke before turning back to the woman in front of him, indicating her low cut dress.

"Oh my God, would you?" Penelope said irritated as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Uh, Baby Girl. That just pushes them further up."

She slapped her arms back down to her sides. She gave every man in front of her, aside from Luke, an evil glare before speaking. "We have tables through there." She pointed at the curtain on the far side of the main room.

All the men nodded and walked around her towards the room beyond the curtain except Luke, who stepped closer to her. She eyed the rest of the group as they passed her, but she stood still, the unspoken expectation that she would be talking to Luke.

His eyes followed Mark who was last through the curtain before looking down at her chest. "He's not wrong. You can't get too mad at them for noticing." He tipped his head at her, indicating the cleavage he'd been examining.

"Yes, apparently that is the consensus among the ladies as well. Believe me, I've already heard it. I guess I didn't realize how different my out-of-work wardrobe was to my at-work wardrobe."

"You've gone out with them plenty."

"Yeah, but mostly right after work, so I'm just wearing what I already had on, and all the other times were usually family functions that I wore leggings too. This is a beach vacation and clubbing. My outfits are different."

"Not to me. This is about as covered as you get when we go out." He leered at her.

"True, but then again, I wasn't allowed out naked, so…"

"I wouldn't have said anything." He raised his eyebrows at her. "Wait, are you saying you dressed provocatively solely for my benefit?"

She gave a flirty smile. "I think you know that I might have bought some things specifically for you." He chuckled and gave her a grin that turned back to a leer. She took a deep breath, trying to lessen the immediate, and constant if she was honest, arousal. "So did they grill you?" She needed a distraction, but she also wanted to know.

"You know they did. Asked about the breakup, asked when we got together and how, for how long we were together, and if we broke each other's hearts," he informed her, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah. About the same for me, and what did you say?"

"I told them it was pretty gradual, I'm not sure when we started dating because it feels like we were from almost the beginning, but maybe a year."

"And the broken hearts?" She pursed her lips, nervous for the answer.

"I said I wasn't sure about yours, but I knew mine was. They wanted to know if they would kick my ass."

"You told them you weren't sure mine was broken?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I didn't know if it was the right answer on a technicality. I- Honestly, I know we're both heartbroken, but it almost feels as if I don't, and never will, have as much power over you as you do over me. So no, I'm not sure if I broke it or if I just was an idiot and bruised it a little bit." He raised his shoulders. "Besides I did tell them they might want to kick my ass, so they know you didn't just trample on my heart for fun."

She looked relieved as she finally let her hand fall from her hip. "Oh, well, I wouldn't want them to." She was fidgeting, eyes darting from the floor to his face. "I mean we both made it messy."

"You don't have anything to explain to me. We've talked this over and under and backwards. You know where I stand." He smiled at her and brought his hand to the side of her face.

"I wish I knew how to feel better," she said sadly as she moved in to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her as she clutched the back of his jacket in her hands. After a few calming breaths, she stepped out of his embrace but clasped his hand, and they made their way to their friends.

As they stepped through the curtain, it got eerily quiet for such a large group of tipsy adults. Everyone was eyeing them and their clasped hands. Penelope rolled her eyes and approached one of the tables. Both of them sat down, not acknowledging anyone's questioning gaze, knowing that they were just being talked about until they made their appearance.

Emily went into captain mode immediately. "Okay, kids. Let's order some pitchers of margaritas so we all get liquid courage to dance." They all started having conversations with the people near them as Kristy and Will went to get the drinks.

Luke and Penelope stayed at the edge of the table together, speaking intimately. They were close, touching and leaning into the other. They could occasionally feel the curious glances from the others, but they ignored it. They'd given as much information as the two of them could handle sharing in one night. Penelope felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out and saw a text from Phil. "Apparently they are making their way here. They'll be here in a couple hours," she told Luke.

"They decided to drive late then. I guess with Lay's schedule it's not all that late."

"Yeah, they probably made a day of it - drove a little, picked up whoever she invited, and then drove some more, took pics on the way. Lay makes the most of everything she does."

"You're not wrong. Okay. Well, if the others don't want to leave, I'll just take a cab back to the house. Tell them to text when they're close."

"I already did, but I'll come with you if we're not done by then." She put her phone away after replying, grabbed her lip gloss out, refreshed it and then set her purse back down. She reached over and drank from the glass they had been sharing.

He had watched her reline her lips with the glossy pink color, and then he watched as she wrapped her lips around the straw, remembering how much he enjoyed kissing them. "Mi amada, that's not fair. I remember exactly what that mouth of yours can do." He whispered in her ear, and he smirked when he felt her shiver.

They were leaning into each other intimately, still in the corner, almost on their own. "Lucas, don't do that."

"Don't call me, Lucas," he countered.

"You want me to. You love hearing your name on my lips."

"I love a lot of things on your lips."

She was smiling saucily at him, knowing they were walking into dangerous territory, but it wasn't the first time they had done so since their breakup. Most nights they spent together anyway, but it was all too raw still, and one of them would put a halt to things, and let it stand at intimacy without relations.

She put her elbow up on the table and supported her neck as she leaned in closer to him. She felt the magnetic pull, and his head automatically came closer to hers. "Lucas, you know better than to do this right now. I don't have self control like you."

"What makes you think I have self control when it comes to you? I only keep away because I don't want to ruin something before it has a chance to get fixed. The only thing keeping me in check is the thought that, if I don't, I lose you forever. Don't need more motivation than that," he said to her. They were just inches apart, as he scanned her face, looking between her lips and eyes.

"I know. Me too. I don't want to get confused. I want to know it's my decision without anything clouding my judgement. But sometimes I don't think it's very necessary to do that when we could be doing something else entirely. I mean, at what point do I admit I don't have any intention of moving on whatsoever," she said to him quietly. She was still flirting, but she was also deliberating.

Luke took a deep breath. "We're still in an exclusive relationship, Penelope, even if we aren't together," he said sincerely.

She let her eyes fall to the table before peering at him under her lashes. "I know, and I don't want to change that. I just want to know how to get back to where I don't think of the pain."

Luke was about to respond, tell her that that's why they were waiting, whether their libidos wanted to or not, and that he was perfectly willing to continue for as long as she needed but his thoughts were interrupted when he heard the loud, unmistakeable screech of his sister. "What the fuck are you two playing at?"

Luke stood up swiftly and came towards his sister, wrapping her in a hug and whispering in her ear to be good, a direction she quickly rejected. "Everyone, this is my sister, Layla, and that is my ex-partner, Phil," Luke told the group who were paying rapt attention as he gestured to Phil before walking over and clasping his hand, leaning down to give him a hug.

That was all it took. A few moments with no supervision, and Layla was off. She knew everyone in the private room was paying attention to her, and she thrived on attention. "Penny!" She gave Penelope a hug when she stood up, and then as she pulled back, Layla started tapping each of her index fingers on either boob that was peeking out of Penelope's dress. "Aw, man. I missed these things." She heard her first round of laughter and was hooked.

"Lay-" Luke was going to scold her, but Layla was louder and feistier.

"Shut up, bro. So, like, for real, I thought you weren't together, or were pretending not to be together or some shit, but you're basically making out, so what gives?" She looked at them briefly, but was also smiling at the people that she didn't know in the slightest but was assuming she could make into allies, just as she did with everyone else she'd ever come in contact with.

"We-" Penelope tried.

"Whatever. Doesn't matter. Just let us know when the wedding is." Layla halted the light tapping and put both full palms on Penelope's boobs and pushed them together gently, "I really, really, missed these."

"Layla for fuck's sake!" Luke shouted at her.

She put her hands up in mock surrender. "Okay, okay, officer. Cripes! Take a chill pill, bro. Ooh, that reminds me. Does anyone have any spare handcuffs they aren't using because I'm going to need them?" she asked seriously.

All of the people that were meeting this girl for the first time were laughing and smirking as the scene unfolded in front of them. Luke and Phil came towards the girls, giving the others a better view of the characters on stage. "She already lost mine is what she's trying to say," Phil spoke for the first time, nodding towards the large group.

"Well, you're in physical therapy. You're not out being all, covert undercover man anymore. It's not like you were using them." She put her hands on her hips ready to argue.

"She's very empathetic. It's her specialty," Phil said earning more laughs.

"Anyway, why are you here? Thought you were a couple hours out," Luke said loudly, trying his best to contain the situation.

"Yeah, we lied. Thought it would be a fun surprise to show up and embarrass you, and so far it has not disappointed." She lowered her voice, arching her eyebrow at the people she saw with the widest grins.

"Actually, Layla just breaks laws. So traffic laws are not even on her radar. I should've arrested her multiple times, not just on this trip but just in life, generally," Phil said.

Layla glared at Phil. "Excuse me, I'm a surgeon. I save lives like, all the time. So if I sort of don't pay attention to gambling or trespassing laws, like, isn't that sort of repayment for being like, super awesome?" She turned to the group. "I don't have to be a doctor. I could be a stripper. I'd be a great stripper, and then I wouldn't have to pay taxes, more laws I don't care for." She used one hand to make an almost karate chop.

Luke had a hand to his forehead, unsure why he allowed his sister to come on this vacation at all. He usually pretended she didn't exist. Why didn't he do that? Oh, right. Penelope wanted her there, and he would give Penelope whatever she wanted. "Layla, not everyone finds you entertaining or funny. Some of these people might actually arrest you if you pull some of your usual shit. Plus, there are kids at home."

"Alright, but there ain't kids here, so..."

"Anyway, you two want drinks?" Penelope asked.

"Hells yeah." Layla stepped forward and downed the rest of the liquid in what was Luke and Penelope's shared cup. She walked towards the main part of the table and poured more from the pitcher she saw. Reaching over Hotch and JJ, not caring that she didn't even know their names. After her glass was nearly spilling, she walked further around the table, taking a seat in between Savannah and Mark where there was a spare chair. "So anyone have any questions I can answer? I've got loads of stories."

The group were now turned partially so they could see both sets of people. "No, you have no stories. Keep your mouth shut," Luke said in a menacing voice.

"Relax, they know I can't tell them why you broke up. Blah blah, boring, but I can tell them how Uncle Rico caught you two doing it at Abuela's surprise birthday party. No one ever told me that story was off limits." She clinked her glass against Emily's since it was the closest and started taking large gulps. Everyone was thoroughly amused and enjoying the new addition to the evening. She gestured back to where she'd left her mortified brother. "Oh, that's Kelsey. Sorry, I left her outside on the phone."

"Uh, hi." Kelsey gave a small wave at the many people whose eyes were trained on her. She stepped further into the room. She looked at Luke and then Penelope shyly, "Uh, hi, you two. Nice to see you."

As soon as Kelsey walked in, Penelope's posture changed. Her demeanor was closed off. She forgot the profilers in the room, and instead she just remembered the pain in her chest. Luke was eyeing her up and down, feeling the need to reach out to her, but she tensed up and gave him a glare to inform him to do no such thing.

After a few moments of silence and Kelsey's wide-eyed stare towards Layla, Penelope responded. "Yes, it's nice to see you." She gave her a half hearted smile. "You know what, I'm going to go back to the house and make sure everything is ready for you all. So, yeah. Don't worry about the time or anything. Stay. Have fun," she said it to the group as a whole without looking at any of them, grabbing her purse from the table where she'd been sitting and swiftly moving through the curtain.

Luke put his hand to his temple and rubbed, before giving Layla a death stare and turning to Kelsey. "Don't worry about it," he said to her, before following Penelope.

Phil wheeled himself closer to the table. "I told you you're an asshole, didn't I?" Phil said to Layla in a reprimand. "You could've told them who were bringing, just to be courteous."

"Fuck off, Phil. Are we just supposed to hide anything that reminds them forever?" Layla glared back at him.

"Lay, I don't need to be here. If my presence upsets her, I should go," Kelsey said meekly. Her eyes couldn't help but drift to the overly curious, and not particularly friendly, faces that were Penelope and Luke's friends.

"Nonsense. Those two fucked up their relationship; you didn't. It's their problem, not yours. Sit down. Have a drink. Let the past stay where it belongs. Let it go," Layla said decisively.

Kelsey meekly sat down at the chair vacated by Luke, as far away from the group as possible. Phil came closer to the group, but not too far, so he didn't have to leave Kelsey alone.

Phil glanced around to the other people, feeling a sense of camaraderie but a need to tell them to let it settle for the moment. They didn't need to protect Penelope tonight. "I'm really happy to be here. I hope you don't mind spoiled rotten dogs because Penelope and Luke gave me Lou, and he's going to be excited to have so many people around."

The others took his cue and made conversation with the newcomers and each other, alike. Not one of them was going to drop it. Not until they got to the bottom of this, but they couldn't do anything at eleven o'clock at a bar when their friends had left and apparently needed privacy.


	7. Chapter 7

I promised an update on something everyday until the premier but yesterday I was feeling terrible. My new diagnoses explains the symptoms but I didn't have the same medication so it was an odd day.

I do have updates for Cash, Signals, When, and Summer all in the next few days.

* * *

Luke and Penelope were sitting on one of the big couches in the living room in their sleep clothes from the night before. She was curled into his side. She finally wore herself out from crying and fell asleep. It had taken him nearly an hour to get her to even let him hold her, touch her, talk to her. He didn't blame her, but it was killing him that he was no longer the comforting embrace she went to. Now there were scars marring that for her. He could only punish himself so far before it became something else entirely. He was wide awake, absently stroking her hair, just grateful that she was able to calm down and recognize this pain wasn't new. She already went through it once, and she didn't have a renewed right to push him away, not when they'd come this far.

He was in such a daze that he wasn't aware the group arrived home until he heard the front door open. He should've heard the doors of the cars, noticed the hum of the engines, or the voices carrying on, but he wasn't in the right state of mind. When the group started filing in, he shook Penelope and quietly whispered to her to get up. She registered that there were many guests, and this wasn't her bed. She quickly wiped the sleep from her eyes before turning to Luke, silently asking if she had mascara running down her face. He shook his head. It was clear her eyes were puffy from crying. They'd know that much, but otherwise her makeup was in place. They both rose from the couch to greet them.

As the subdued crowd gathered around the room, they surveyed the two casually clothed people but were not planning on pushing anything. "Did you have fun?" Penelope asked as nicely as she could muster.

"It was fine," JJ said. "I'm surprised we didn't drink that much." She gave Penelope a look of pity, something Penelope never wanted from any of them. This is why they didn't need to know. That one look said it all.

"Yeah, so what's the plan for tomorrow?" Penelope asked them.

"We wanted to do a few water sports, but, if we book it two days in advance, it's cheaper. So I think we all just decided a lazy day on the beach and a barbeque." Matt smiled at her also with a hint of sadness at the end of his grin. Penelope felt the anger flare behind her eyes, but she pursed her lips, saying nothing.

"Right, we went out late tonight anyway and drank, so probably best if we don't do anything we need hand-eye coordination for," Emily added.

"I'm sleeping in. We woke up early, and then I drank, obviously. We'll have to meet you there later," Layla said.

"That's okay. We'll wait for you and take you down when you're ready," Penelope told her.

Savannah nodded. "Beach at noon and then food at three."

"We rented the picnic area just down from where we set up today when you joined us," Kristy added.

"Sounds like a plan. Uh, you all must be tired. Phil, let me take you to your room."

Penelope was going to walk towards the entrance, but Derek's voice stopped her. "I'll take him."

"Night, everyone." Phil said and then wheeled towards the room he'd used on previous visits. Derek followed him with his bag.

"The kids are all sleeping, and so is your mom," Luke told Spencer. "Amanda went to bed about a half hour ago," Luke informed them.

"Any problems?" Hotch asked.

"Apart from a territory fight over some various Monopoly properties, no." Luke nodded at him.

Derek walked back into the room, giving Penelope a glare, which made her jump to avoid any contact with any of these people right now. "Okay, ladies you're upstairs with us. We'll let you get to sleep." Penelope smiled towards Layla and Kelsey.

"Awesome. So done." Layla walked towards Luke and shoved her belongings on him.

He rolled his eyes, settling the bag and suitcase more comfortably. "Good night, everyone." He followed his sister.

Kelsey was right behind her, a duffel and another large tote over her shoulders. "Here, let me." Penelope stepped forward, attempting to grab the tote.

"No. Really, it's okay." Kelsey attempted to back away, chancing a glance at the less than friendly faces watching them. She'd be damned if they were going to think even less of her.

"No. It's fine, Kelsey. I can help you with your bag." Penelope gave her a tight smile that she didn't mean to seem rude, but she couldn't quite make happy either.

Kelsey nodded her assent, as Penelope slung the bag over her shoulder. "Um, good night." Kelsey said to the group, not wanting to be rude, and then quickly moving through the large living room and kitchen to the staircase.

Penelope cleared her throat before addressing the people in front of her. "Okay, well I'll see you in the morning, most likely afternoon. Whatever, tomorrow. See you then." She shuffled away almost to the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" Rossi questioned.

Penelope turned to him and then glanced at Derek, Will, and Hayden who were closest to him. She just gave them a half smile before spinning around and walking away.

After she was out of sight, Derek spoke. "What do we do here?" He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to punch Alvez until he blurted out everything that he'd ever done to make Penelope cry the tears she'd obviously cried today.

"I don't know," JJ said looking just as lost.

"Well, that's just the thing, none of us know. We don't know what happened," Will said as he rubbed a hand over his wife's back.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Derek bit back, but he didn't mean to snap at Will, which they all knew.

"Luke is our friend, and, if Garcia is okay sleeping in his bed, then we can't be mad at him for something he didn't even do to us," Matt said to the group.

"Matt's not wrong. We don't know why they feel like they feel. And didn't you say that he said Penelope broke his heart? There's obviously more to this than what we can see." Emily was trying to be reasonable, not only for her friend's sake, but for her team's. They still had to work together when they were gone from this place and back at their jobs.

Hotch wasn't in charge anymore, but he certainly had the same thought as Emily. He didn't want any of them in danger out in the field just because they'd lost trust in each other. "It's true. We know very little, and we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"I'm sure if Garcia needs us, she will come to us." Spencer earned a glare from both JJ and Morgan. "I know she hasn't, but that's exactly it. She had support, and she relied on that, probably because we didn't have anything left over to give at the time. But we're here now," he explained.

"He's not wrong. All we need to do is make it clear that they can be open with us. Both of them," Tara agreed.

"Okay, children. Everyone off to bed. We have a vacation to enjoy this week." Hayden smiled at the group as they dispersed.

JJ and Derek lingered behind. "Is that what we should do?" Derek asked her.

"I mean, I guess." JJ was aware that it made sense to respect their privacy and wait for them.

"I just don't like this. If that girl had something to do with this, if Luke..." Derek trailed off.

"I know it looks that way, but _it's_ _Luke_. It just doesn't make sense." JJ crossed her arms while she contemplated.

"Anyone can make a mistake, JJ," Derek told her.

"Well in that case, it was a mistake, and maybe that's why it's not a simple solution?" She huffed. "We're not going to figure it out right now. Penelope is uncomfortable with this girl, and Alvez is uncomfortable but more concerned about P, but they both want to work it out. They both love each other."

"You're right. I'm trying my damndest not to jump to conclusions here, but I'm fighting the instinct to go up there and beat it out of him. Might be killing two birds anyway." Derek put his hands on his hips. "We need to get to the bottom of this. I'm not going to watch Penelope cry everyday of vacation. I'm just not."

"We'll have to try and get something out of Layla. She seems easier to crack." JJ smiled at the thought of the rambunctious girl they'd met and instantly liked.

"Yeah, but he's her brother. Besides, she brought Kelsey, so obviously she doesn't mind disrupting the flow," Derek noted.

"She likes Penelope a lot, and Penelope likes her. I don't think she intentionally wanted to hurt her. If Luke has a history with this girl, Layla must think it's insignificant compared to what him and Garcia have. Maybe she did it because of that, wanted to spur them to make it right."

"Possibly, and my Baby Girl apparently broke his heart too, so maybe Kelsey was the revenge? Maybe they both strayed? That doesn't sound right either." Derek shook his head.

"No, but, I mean, they could've broken up, and she was the rebound, and Garcia had a rebound too?" JJ still wanted to figure it out.

"Yeah, but that would mean they were already broken up. Well, the stress of this past year could do it to anybody. Savannah and I have never fought so much."

"Will and me too. So that might be it. The stress, and no support from us, no place to run, they take solace in other people and bam suddenly everything becomes more complicated."

"Makes sense. Also makes sense why it's hard to just jump back in if you want to. It's tough to forget something you're not supposed to even be mad at," Derek agreed.

JJ put her hand to her forehead. "We're just spinning our wheels down here. Let's go to bed."

Derek nodded and followed JJ up the steps, neither of them feeling good about the situation.

….

Luke was in the kitchen with Phil. They had made a small lunch for the ladies who were still upstairs. Despite having a late night, neither man was really that good at sleeping in. Luke purposely waited until the entire group was gone from the house before heading down and finding Phil watching television in the main room. Phil had said good mornings and goodbyes to the group, but that was all he had to report. No one tried to pump him for information. That was good news to Luke, but he also knew that they weren't stupid. Phil wasn't going to crack.

"You two still don't want to confide in your friends?" Phil asked as he watched Luke dump out some chips in a bowl.

"I don't care either way. I like my privacy, and I like having her all to myself and not worrying about what other people think, but we couldn't hide it forever. I always knew that. Penelope never wanted the pity and, quite frankly, neither did I. I don't know how it's going to play out now. If we don't work our issues out soon, they're not going to let it go."

"I don't know them all that well, but I don't think they're ever going to let it go until they get their answers," Phil told him disbelievingly.

"Well, if we got back together and told them we sorted it out, maybe they'd let it go eventually." Luke shrugged.

"But Penelope still needs time," Phil said knowingly. "Look, man, I know it's frustrating, but keep your eyes on the prize. Does it matter if they know, if you still get her in the end?"

Luke let a small smile creep across his face. "No, I suppose you're right. I'll try to keep that in mind."

"Remember, I'm the smart one in this partnership."

"How could I forget?"

They heard the telling footsteps on the stairs getting closer and pretty soon Layla made her presence known. "Hey, losers. What are you doing? Cleaning each other's buttholes?" She had a messy ponytail at the top of her head and a long t-shirt on. She walked up to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice, drinking from it.

"Lay, don't other people need to drink that?" Kelsey was behind her.

Layla handed her the carton so she could drink from it as well. "Not if we finish it." She started grabbing at the chips that Luke had put out.

Penelope came down the stairs. She was the only one dressed of the three women. Although, dressed might be an overstatement for the beach dress she was wearing. "I'm assuming the rest of the family is off at the beach?" She moved to the fridge to get an untainted juice, unsealing it and pouring it into a glass.

"Yup, it seems they all decided to get out of here pretty quickly this morning. I'm assuming to start building a profile together." Luke raised his eyes at her.

"Spencer took Momma Reid down there too?" Penelope wondered.

"Yup, they rented the gazebo and tables so even the non-beach-goers are comfy down there," Luke informed her, coming near her to give her a kiss on the cheek.

She glanced around at the other three people. They barely noticed their interaction. Penelope knew these people had seen their affection before, but they also knew what had happened between them, so it still felt uneasy.

"So are we heading down there?" Layla asked.

"Sure, if everyone wants to," Luke told her, running his nails lightly over Penelope's arm.

"Are they at the last gazebo off the path?" Phil questioned as he wheeled himself over.

"Yup, no problem for you. Get your sunglasses out," Luke answered and grabbed a chip off of the plate Penelope made for herself.

"Uh, if me being here is an issue. I can keep myself busy downtown," Kelsey told the group.

Layla rolled her eyes and hopped up on a stool. "Don't be a dumbass."

Kelsey gave a small smile to Penelope before sitting next to Layla. "It's fine. If you don't come, they'll just ask me even more questions." Penelope finally relaxed into Luke's touch. He was still looming over her. If she told him she needed space, he'd give it to her, but, if not, his plan was to stay even closer to her than he was before.

"As soon as everyone is ready, we'll head down," Luke said to them, but he didn't look away from Penelope as he did so.

Kelsey glanced at Layla, who rolled her eyes again and stuffed some of a hummus wrap in her mouth.

"I'm going to grab my stuff." Phil whistled at Lou, who followed him through the living room towards his room.

"Guess we'll shower and be down in a bit," Layla said, throwing more wraps on her plate and a handful of chips before disappearing up the stairs with Kelsey who was carrying the carton of juice.

"You okay, Baby?" Luke asked Penelope, wrapping his arms around her.

She sighed tiredly, before spinning around in his arms to face him. "Yeah, it's just so weird, and I'm not looking forward to all the inquisitive faces today."

He breathed her in, forgetting what a bad idea that was. "I'm right here. I won't leave you to deal with this alone."

"I wish I could believe that as much as I used to." She put her hands on his obliques, grabbing his shirt in her hands.

"I wish I could make you believe it again." He leaned in, putting his lips on her forehead but not actually leaving a kiss there.

"How did you forgive me?" she asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"It's not that it was easy. It's just that I knew I'd rather have you than not. Whatever we did to each other, it wasn't intentional. We were lost and hurt." She peered up at him, and he brought his hands up to her face, holding her there so she would look into his eyes. "Don't worry. You'll get there. This is us. We can do anything we want to do."

She nodded, leaning into him, her head bobbing against his chin. "Okay, I believe you." She felt him breathe what she could only describe as a sigh of relief.

He pulled back. "Is this what you're wearing?" He then pushed her closer towards the counter and brought his body flush against hers. "I love this dress, and you know you're driving me crazy. Sweetheart, are you doing that on purpose?" His lips were inches from hers.

She bit her bottom lip and nodded coyly. She leaned towards him, about to initiate their first kiss in months, until she heard paws clinking on the wooden floors quickly coming their way, followed by a bark and a yell from Phil.

Luke put his forehead against hers. "We need to train you better, Lou," Luke said to the dog as he wagged his tail near their legs.

Penelope gently pushed Luke away, giving him an apologetic look, "Maybe Lou knows something we don't."

Luke whined but released her. "Let's get our stuff and head out."

* * *

Thank you for all the favs, reviews, follows, and PM's. They are very appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

So I have yet to go check again if what was plagiarized was changed on that other site yet. I wanted to give people time to delete things. But I sure hope so!

I have been in a lot of pain the past couple days, the change in weather has my injuries and things flaring up. So I am updating this one just under the wire. I love this story, even if it has the least feedback. I think it's one of my favorites so I hope for those of you that love it, this update helps with the constant intrigue here.

Thanks, all.

* * *

"Hey, losers. What's up?" Layla shouted at the large group scattered around the various beach chairs, towels, and tables. "Those yours?" She pointed at Michael and Hank who were chasing Amanda down by the water.

"Yeah, they're ours," Savannah said to her. "The majority of them are at day camp right now."

"Ugh, children." Layla shook with mock disgust.

"She's not a fan." Kelsey smiled shyly at all of them. "She's told all of our friends that, if they have children, they've personally offended her, and she will disown them immediately."

Some of the people around her gave her a slight smile. "Kids aren't for everyone," Kristy said to her genuinely.

"That's an understatement," Luke said to the group as he set down Penelope's bag.

"Did you two go to med school together?" Hayden asked Kelsey.

Kelsey gave her a grateful smile. "Yes, we did. You can imagine what she was like when we were in undergrad, when she was young and irresponsible," She joked.

"Can only imagine," Will said to her kindly.

"On one of our spring breaks, Luke and Phil came to meet us down here, and there were kids staying in one of the suites with their parents. Layla decided to show them how to mix their own cocktails. When the parents came in, she explained that she was just giving them a leg up for when they got to college."

"What? I didn't let them actually drink the alcohol. I gave them the virgin version." Layla pulled her shirt over her head and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Still, don't leave your kids alone with her. They'll fare better on their own," Phil told the group as they chuckled.

"Whatever. You're all assholes. I want to play volleyball. Anyone else?" Layla grabbed the ball from the bag of things that Hotch had brought down.

"I'll play," Mark said, standing up and giving Emily a kiss on the cheek.

"Good, you can be my partner. Obviously Phil is useless now." She shook her head at him and pursed her lips.

"Yeah, Lay. Next time a fugitive decides to maim me, I'll just bargain with him, and let him know that he's messing with your winning streak," he said to her with just as much attitude as she gave him, earning a middle finger from her.

"I'll play," Kelsey pulled off her shirt and stepped out of her shorts.

"Oh, good. You and Luke can pair up like old times," Layla said as she handed her sunscreen to Penelope. Penelope took the bottle and put some on Layla's back, ignoring all the gazes from her colleagues.

Luke glanced around the group, taking in the inquisitive faces. Luckily, his sunglasses were dark enough that they couldn't see his eyes roaming. "No thanks, Lay."

"Oh my God, you can leave her alone for a fucking second," Layla almost shouted.

"Go play, Luke. Phil is here to report all of my mood changes back to you." Penelope gave him an amused smile before closing the cap on the sunscreen and handing it back to Layla who threw it at Kelsey.

"C'mon, bro. I haven't kicked your ass in a while." Layla took off jogging towards the beach with Mark. Luke took a breath and kissed Penelope's forehead, then took off his shirt and handed it to her before gesturing in front of him for Kelsey to lead the way.

Penelope put his shirt in her bag before walking over to the tables and taking a seat at the bench. "So, anything fun happen today?"

"We all realized we're not as young as we thought we were." Hotch took a sip of water, readjusting his dark glasses.

"Michael and Hank wanted to go in the water, but none of us could last more than a few minutes each," Matt told her. "Thank goodness Spencer brought Amanda. She's going to have to play with the rest of them when they get off the bus later."

"Yeah we drank way more after you left last night. Didn't realize just how much until I woke up with my toothbrush in my bed," Tara said causing a round of laughter.

"Luckily, I don't have to move from this spot in order to refresh my whiskey." Rossi nodded to the cooler he purposely set up next to himself.

"What about you, gorgeous girl? Did you sleep well?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, I was pretty tired," Penelope told him.

"Are you feeling okay today? You seem exhausted still," JJ said to her concerned.

Penelope said nothing. She was still emotionally drained in some ways, thinking about her past and going through the stress of everyone being so concerned. JJ was right. She was even starting to feel the effects physically. Her nervous tummy was still fluttering, making her feel nauseous. Phil was next to her, and he put a hand on her back. "Uh, hey, did you bring that terrible, stupid, board game from last time?" Phil asked her, knowing damn well she had.

She smiled gratefully at him and pulled it out of her bag. "Yeah, you want me to kick your butt like last time? Step on up, or, uh-"

"Wheel on up?" Phil joked.

"Sorry."

"Oh, please. If I can't laugh about it, then I would've given up already. Plus you've witnessed my progress. I'm walking on my own sometimes. I think we can make the joke." He pulled himself around the table so he was sitting on the edge, "Besides, with Layla around, no one should ever feel emotionally safe."

Penelope laughed. "Anyone else want to play?" She was pulling out the various pieces, setting them up on the picnic table.

"Sure, I'll try." Emily pushed off of her beach towel. "What is it?"

"The worst game you'll ever know," Phil said. Lou was patiently sitting right next to him. He turned to Penelope. "How long do you think it will take for Luke and Kels to win? He'll have to take Lou on a run."

"I can do it," Matt said smiling at him.

"I'll come with, wanted to run up that way and see the view from those rocks." Derek pointed.

"I thought you said you couldn't even keep the kids entertained earlier," Penelope said to them, a huge smile on her face.

"Kids are a different story entirely. They drain you in oh so many ways. Running a marathon is easier," Kristy said smiling.

"Yeah, if you ever do have any, you'll sign up for every charity walk from here to Cali just to get a break," JJ said.

Penelope scoffed. "Guess I've never actually been tired before."

"Uh, I didn't mean that people without kids-"

"Yeah, way to be a jerk, Jayge. You don't have to have kids to know exhaustion." Emily put her sunglasses on the top of her head as she exaggeratedly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, besides, it's hard to feel bad for any of you, since you picked your poison." Phil smiled at a few of the parents around.

"This is true," Diana said, not looking up from her book, "I told Spence we didn't have another kid because we wouldn't mess with perfection, but honestly I bet I would've been hospitalized much earlier if I'd had more than one." She glanced to Spencer, "No offense, dear."

Spencer turned around to the others, blinking at the comment. They all laughed. "How many people can play?" Tara asked.

"Up to six, if anyone else wants to join," Penelope said.

"I'll play." JJ took a seat next to Penelope who gave her a pat on her hand when she sat down.

"I'm in." Tara took the seat in between Phil and Emily.

"Hey, me too," Will said, sitting next to his wife. "Prepare to lose, pretty lady."

"As if." JJ leaned over and kissed him.

"Here's Lou's leash. He usually stays next to Luke, but Luke also has some sort of magic, alpha dog thing going on. I wouldn't risk it," Phil said handing Matt the leash.

"Thanks, we'll be back soon." Derek kissed Savannah and walked off with Matt.

Penelope and Phil were passing out the various cards and pieces to those sitting around the game. Penelope leaned over to set the stack of cards on the far end of the board.

"Geesh, PG. Luke wasn't kidding. How do those things even stay in?" Emily asked looking down at her dress.

"Oh, ha ha. Can we leave my boobs alone please?"

"That's a tough ask," Tara said grinning.

"You're all the worst," Penelope said with a giggle.

As they played, Penelope and Phil were secretly ganging up on the others, but they were yet to figure that out. Matt and Derek had returned, and all were paying rapt attention to the board game in front of them.

Penelope patted Phil's knee under the table. They were coming close to knocking JJ out when Luke and Mark returned from volleyball. "Hey, you know they're teaming up, right?" Luke said as he put his hands on Penelope's shoulders.

"Yo man, where's the loyalty?" Phil put his hands out, as he questioned him.

"I knew it. I can't be this bad. Where's my beginner's luck?" Tara playfully poked Phil's arm.

"Oh my God! Get out of here, Honey. You're ruining my good time." Penelope pushed at Luke's stomach, immediately realizing her mistake. "Ugh, you're all sweaty."

"Oh please. Like you care," Layla said as she jogged over to her bag to get her towel. "The day after my Abuela's party, the air conditioner went out at her house, and we sent Luke outside to fix it, and Penny so graciously went to help him. Well, after an hour, we had no idea what was taking so long so I was sent to the roof to investigate. These two were doing it up there, on the hot ass roof. Like, why though?" Layla didn't wait for an answer as she ran back to Kelsey who was waiting by the water.

Everyone was staring at a red faced Penelope, who was trying to hide her face behind her hands. Phil looked at his best friend and the girl he loved so much and decided to do the most helpful thing he could, laugh. "You know, that's not even one of the worst stories," Phil said in between laughs. "They did it in my therapy room. The doctor wheeled me in, and she tried to quickly wheel me back out. Not fast enough, I might add."

Everyone in the group started laughing, some of them uncontrollably. "It sounds like we missed out on a lot of entertainment by not being fully aware of your relationship." Emily choked out.

"I hate all of you. I'm leaving." Penelope got up from her place.

"We haven't finished playing," Will protested since he wasn't doing as bad as his wife.

"Spencer can take my place. I'm so over all of you right now," Penelope said in mock anger but in very real embarrassment. "I'm taking Lou for another walk. Dogs are better than people." She didn't bother putting a leash on Lou though.

Luke found the whole thing funny, but he kept his laugh in. He grabbed his shirt and whistled at Lou who obediently trotted next to him, as they joined her on the path.

"I guess they're going to do it," Phil said loudly enough for them to hear. Neither of them turned around.

"Well don't come back pregnant if you don't want any brats," Savannah called out.

The two people were further away now, but Luke put his arm around her shoulder as they ignored all the teasing. "We should have never told them we didn't want kids. All we're going to hear about is how we should."

"That seems to be the case, doesn't it? It's like when you tell any grandmother that you're not hungry. She insists that you eat at least a three course meal." She laughed and leaned into him as they walked.

"I knew bringing Layla around was a mistake, but Phil was a surprise." He smiled.

"Well, you did give away our winning strategy," she teased.

"You mean cheating?" He let his hand drop and grabbed hers.

She gasped. "Me? I would never," she said squeezing his hand.

He leaned into her again and gave her a small smile. "No. Of course not."

They'd made it down to the end of the pathway that led to an overlook of the beach. They stopped in front of it, and Lou obediently laid next to them as they leaned on the wooden railing. She sighed. "We can't hide from them forever."

"Just last night you swore we could."

"I was a little emotional."

He grinned at her. "So what does that mean? Not hiding?"

"It means I'm over hiding." She leaned into him, her face close to his. "We're on vacation. We don't need to have a big emotional upheaval, but we'll talk to them when the time's right. Until then, I miss being with you, and I don't want to waste time anymore. Kelsey reminded me of a bad moment, but that never defined us, so I think it's time I stop letting it." She gave him a flirty smile.

He gazed at her, with a hint of wonder in his eyes. "You tell me this now? Couldn't have had this revelation when we were alone in bed this morning?" His lips were almost touching hers.

"What fun is it if I can't drive you crazy," she whispered just before his lips descended on hers. She'd forgotten what they felt like. She moaned at the feel of them and gripped his shirt so tightly as she held him close to her that her knuckles turned white.

The kiss was passionate so much so, that vaguely, in the back of her mind, she knew that they were being borderline indecent. This wasn't making out. This was the prelude to sex. This was what they did as they stripped each other's clothes off. His arms were wrapped around her, but he was letting his hands roam up her back to grip her hair and then back down to her hips holding them hard enough that she knew there would be a slight bruise. She had let one of her hands slip in between them, lightly grazing over the bulge in his shorts, eliciting a hiss from him. The wet kisses were making her dizzy. She remembered just how much she delighted in the taste of him. She wondered if it would have just been more comforting to have looked past their issues and taken solace in each other rather than work through it before coming back together. She didn't have the answer, which was the reason she decided to take a leap back into what she had been craving.

"Seriously? They weren't joking." Through the fog of lust, they faintly heard the voice of a one, Mr. Matthew Simmons. Luke glared in the direction of the voice.

"Apparently not." When Penelope heard Derek's voice, she took a deep breath before turning, hoping that it wasn't the entire gang sitting there watching them.

"Did you two need something?" she asked with her signature attitude, hoping they couldn't see through the facade. She was most definitely dazed from lust and would have happily kept going. She was flustered and maybe embarrassed, but more pissed that she couldn't tell them all on her own time. She realized just because she loved these people, and she wanted to rebond with all of them after their hellish year, vacation with them meant that they were going to be intimately in one another's business with no reprieve. She cursed her welcoming and joyous spirit, knowing that it got her into this debacle.

"We just came to find you and let you know that we were going to be getting the food going soon, but, if you two are just going to eat each other…" Derek trailed off.

"Ha ha, Derek. I forgot how unfunny you were." Penelope attempted to step towards him, but Luke wouldn't let her move from her spot. She wondered why, but she quickly figured out that they were both ready to jump into the next step, and he was less equipped to hide that so easily.

"We were just letting you know we grabbed the food from the house so we can start cooking, but we hadn't expected to run into you two working on your relationship," Matt jabbed.

"Not you too," Penelope whined as she pleaded with Matt.

"We'll be right there," Luke told the two men, who nodded and walked away. "We need to get back down there." Luke brushed her cheek with his thumb when she was facing him again. "What do you want to say, about this?"

"Nothing."

Luke raised an eyebrow, indicating that they both knew that was impossible because right now their entire group were being told by two hunky agents that their friends seemed to be back together.

"Alright, alright. We tell them that we're working on us. And we don't know what that means yet."

"No, Chica Bonita. They aren't going to drop this."

"We can tell them we are exclusive but diving back into it slowly."

Luke leaned in, kissing her again, running his tongue over her lips teasing her, and then recapturing them in another bruising kiss. "Is that what's happening? Because I want to tell you I love you so bad, but you said to not use the word until we were back to ourselves."

"Luke, we were never really ever not. I love you too, Baby. I always have, always will."

Luke growled at her. "I love you more than anything or anyone else. I love you, okay? I really do. We can go as slow as you like, but we have to keep going in the right direction. We have to go forward."

Penelope nodded, and they embraced before giving each other a few more deep kisses. They walked back, hand in hand to the gazebo.

"You two were making out? Thank fuck for that. Let's get this show on the road. You've both been sulking for forever." Layla was stuffing potato chips in her mouth.

"Thanks, Lay. You're ever so helpful," Luke said as he grasped Penelope's hand.

"Whatever, bro. Seriously, maybe if you two get your heads out of your ass and just get back together, you can avoid all the inquisitions."

"Yeah, Lay. That's not likely. You may have just met these people, but they are going to investigate until they get every last detail. Probably out of you," Luke observed Tara and Emily make guilty eye contact. "See?"

"You people gave me beer and food just to use me?" she asked affronted as she put her hand to her chest. "Well, I never… do it again." Layla shimmied her shoulders sexily, getting the laughter she was aiming for.

"Okay people, let's just forget this all for now, and you can try to trick us later," Penelope announced as she walked back to the table and took her previous seat.


	9. Chapter 9

I have had a rough couple of days with my pain so I have not updated or been in touch, please be patient with me. Thanks for everything.

* * *

Nighttime at the Manor. Everyone was exhausted, partially from two beach days and also from the night before. They were all gathered in the large living room, most of them with wine or whiskey in their hands.

"So is it water sports tomorrow then?" Will asked.

Mark nodded. "Matt and I have all sorts of stuff reserved for tomorrow."

"Amanda is going to take Hank, Michael, and your Mom to the tea party place in town." Kristy told Spencer.

"That place is awesome. They give you your own teapot to paint," Layla said while stuffing cheese into her mouth from a plate on the table in front of her that was also supporting her feet.

"Layla, get your feet off the table. Other people eat there," Luke said angrily.

"I'll sanitize it," she said dryly.

"What about those of us that are less water sport inclined?" Rossi asked.

"There's a V.I.P. area. It has a hot tub, lounge and a swim up bar. It sits high up on the deck, so you can look out over the ocean," Phil explained.

"So I'm hearing that we can sit on a shaded deck with drinks and dip our feet into a fancy pool and not touch seawater. I think I'll like this," Hayden told them.

"So is it all for us tomorrow?" Emily asked.

"Yeah you can pay individually, but, after you hit ten, it's cheaper to just rent out the place for the day." Matt shrugged.

"The deck and lounge are expansive, and there's a quiet area with puzzles and a t.v.," Penelope added.

"Well, we're all set then. I don't know what I will feel like doing. I might have the energy to learn to stand on a surfboard, or I might build a puzzle. I am a mystery, ladies and gentlemen." Tara raised her eyes.

Phil laughed. "Don't worry, puzzles are all the rage nowadays."

"We can team up like last time and beat these two at the rowing challenge they have." Kelsey was speaking to Penelope shyly.

Penelope gave her a sad smile. "I don't think I'm going to do anything, I like the idea of relaxing. Plus, I really don't feel that good." She shrugged.

Kelsey furrowed her brow, glaring at her with distaste. The whole room seemed to go quiet again, so Luke spoke, "Maybe we should turn in if you're not feeling well." He rubbed Penelope's back softly.

Penelope nodded getting up, with Luke right behind her. "Good night, everyone," she said quietly.

After they were gone, Layla of course broke the silence. "For fuck's sake, I'm going to punch them both in their eye sockets."

"Layla, lay off okay?" It was the first time any of the group heard Kelsey say anything that wasn't shyly muttered with a smile behind it.

"Kelsey, you don't have to worry about them." Layla let her feet drop to the floor.

"Don't I? Isn't that exactly what I'm supposed to do?" Kelsey stood up from her spot on the floor. She had screamed at Layla, but she took a deep breath and turned to the others. "I'm going to bed too. Goodnight," she said quietly to the room.

Layla rolled her eyes and glanced to Phil for support. "Layla, let all three of them sulk if they want to. Penny and Luke can sort out their own lives."

"Yeah because they've been doing a bang up job so far." She rolled her eyes again and returned her feet to the table. "Anyone want to scheme with me? I've got lots of ideas to get them back together for real, but I've got no energy for follow-through," she asked with a mouth full of cheese.

"Actually can't say that I haven't been scheming myself, but we don't know what we're even trying to fix," JJ answered.

"Yeah, I'm getting more confused everyday. I want to help my best friend, but, for the first time in fifteen years, I don't know how to do that." Derek informed her.

"They're going to confide in all of you soon enough. They just aren't there yet. I'm on board with encouraging them to work it out, but I think they're doing just fine on their own." Phil gritted out the last part directed at Layla.

She let one eye glance up at the ceiling while directing an evil glare at Phil. "Fine, whatever. Can I watch the new Doctor Who on your tv?" Layla was already walking in the direction of Phil's room.

Phil rolled his eyes this time. "Sure, be my guest." He began rolling himself to follow Layla. "Night, everybody."

Once again leaving everyone else without a clue. "I don't like this. Kelsey seems nice and all, but she had something to do with this, and I don't understand how I should feel about that." JJ ran her hand across her forehead.

"Me either. I'm not going to be mean to the girl, but seriously what is she doing here if she upsets Penelope?" Derek asked.

"We don't know what is happening still. Let's just let them all be. Phil is the most rational out of all of them, and he seems to think everything will be fine, okay? So let's just wind down in our own rooms and enjoy tomorrow." Emily got up from her seat. She may not be in charge of them in the real world, but hell it was close enough.

….

"If you're not feeling well, mi reina, you should really let Layla, Kelsey, or even Savannah look at you." Luke was curled up next to Penelope, holding her close. Their legs intertwined, they could hear the faint sounds of the tv coming from the adjoining room.

"Luke, I don't need a doctor every time I have a little tummy ache. I'm supposed to have my period any day now. Ever heard of pms?" She laughed. "Besides, I feel really good right now. I don't feel bad at all actually." She ran her hands under his shirt and up his chest.

"Penelope, do not play with fire, mi amor. I don't want both of us to get burned," he gritted out through clenched teeth.

"But I thought we were back together?" she questioned innocently as she placed a couple of kisses on his chest where she held his shirt up high.

Luke growled and grabbed her by the arms, holding her at arm's length as he examined her face. "Penelope, we are, always were, are again, whatever. But this, are you ready for this? Are you back in a place where you want me to touch you and not feel all the bad negative things that can go along with that?"

Penelope's eyes softened. "Yes, actually I am. The past few days have done nothing but made me remember everything I was trying to forget, but I realized it's not about suppressing everything. It's about knowing who we are right now, who we have promised to be going forward, so I'm done hiding, Luke. Let's be in this again, for real."

Luke pulled her roughly to his body and initiated a kiss much like their kiss earlier on the pier. He put both hands on her butt and pulled her hips to his, letting her feel how much he wanted her already. "I love you," he gasped out as he let her push his shirt up and helped her throw it aside.

"I love you, too." He pulled the borrowed shirt off of her, leaning in immediately to kiss and lick her nipples, making her moan instantly.

"Fuck, I missed you," he said in between licking and sucking her now very hard points and using his hands to massage them, feeling them all over again for the first time.

"Me or them?" she teased making him laugh.

He abandoned her chest to loom over her face. "Everything. Nothing I haven't missed even though you've been right next to me the whole time." Penelope lifted her hips and pulled off her own shorts while Luke flung his sweats to the floor, returning to the bed on his knees.

"Damn, I missed you too." She was staring at his naked from, letting her eyes linger on the erection she was tired of just feeling through shorts. She reached for him and, when her mouth engulfed him, she heard a loud moan tear through him. She pulled back, smiling at him. "Your sister is going to hear us."

"Good, let her. Serves her right. Plus, you know she's probably going to throw a party anyway." He shrugged before pushing Penelope back and pinning her down with his body. "Are you expecting me to be creative because I've been waiting for you for months, so I'm going to disappoint."

"No, just do me. I need you." She let her hand guide him to her center and lifted her hips to allow him in.

Both of them moaned loudly. She almost wanted to cry at the physical relief she felt, having him inside of her again. "Damn it, you just had to be this wet, didn't you?" He was frozen above her as he tried to maintain some composure.

"You should know that by now."

"How could I forget?" He put his hands on the pillow on either side of her face and leaned down to kiss her as he began to glide in and out of her.

"Luke, seriously just go fast and hard, and forget all the other stuff. I'm on the verge of coming already. My body has been denied for too long to need to be coaxed into anything."

He let a huge grin with a disbelieving scoff come to his face. "Whatever you want." He held onto her thighs, forcefully pushing into her at a rapid pace.

They had moved up the bed as he did, so she reached behind her, holding onto the headboard for stability, as she squeezed her internal muscles, making him growl at her. "Oh my God, Luke!" She screamed, and he immediately let himself go, probably coming as loudly as she had.

When he felt semi recovered, he leaned into her, kissing her forcefully again. "Baby, I can't ever go without this again. Do you hear me? Not ever. I need you. I need you like this forever."

"I know, me too. I swear, me too." She leaned up to capture his lips this time.

"Well, you've unleashed the beast. You're going to be on your ass, on your stomach, on your knees, face first into a pillow, against the wall, balancing on every piece of furniture in this room. Hope you weren't planning on sleeping tonight," he said to her matter of factly.

"Who needs sleep when there's orgasms?"

He growled and rolled them over so she was straddling him. "Damn right."

….

Mostly everyone was in the kitchen and scattered amongst the living room like the night before, all of them chatting and joking.

"What time do we need to-" Tara's question was cut off when she saw Layla trudge in from Phil's room, walking like a zombie. Tara tried to hide her momentary disappointment.

"Frack, I'm tired," Layla announced as she yawned and made it to the oversized refrigerator, pulling out a half gone bottle of juice and drinking from it. She earned a few befuddled looks.

Phil was right behind her, a loyal Lou right by his side. "Layla, you didn't wipe off the table last night, and now you're drinking from the juice bottle, not everyone is okay with your germs." Phil scolded her as he smiled politely at the curious faces around him. Luke was right, these people were in everyone's business.

She let one eye close in annoyance. "Fine, you can share this juice with me since you love my germs." She gave him a cheshire grin, but it was less menacing than she would've liked since she had sleep in her eyes still. She handed the bottle to Phil and then grabbed a cleaning wipe to scrub the area that her feet had been on the night before. "Look, good as new." She propped her hands up like a model on a game show.

Phil half laughed- half sighed. "Morning, everyone," he said by way of greeting the masses that were seated, finishing their breakfasts.

"Hey, where are those three tightwads?" Layla asked as she started cutting a grapefruit.

"None of them have come down yet," Spencer answered her from his spot at the kitchen island.

"Oh good. I hope they're all up there having a three way, bang it out of their systems. Everyone's happy again." She set the knife down and reached for the cream cheese she saw abandoned in the middle of the counter.

Phil put his hand over his face. "I'm really very sorry about her."

"Hey, you don't get to apologize for me." She stomped her foot.

"Somebody has to." Kelsey's voice echoed as she landed on the bottom step.

"Where were you, late riser?" Layla put a hand on her hip.

"Uh, better question is where were you?" Kelsey gave her the same attitude back.

Layla rolled her eyes. "Fine. Where are the other two?"

Kelsey yawned and came to lean her elbows on the counter, taking the juice from Phil as he came up next to her. "God, I hope they're sleeping. I don't know what they're trying to play at, about not being together. I heard them together at least seven times last night." Kelsey rolled her eyes. "They're definitely together enough."

Phil and Layla were both unamused by the information. They expected as much. Everyone else seemed to be taken aback. Once Derek processed the information, he addressed Kelsey. "I don't think it's your right to have an opinion on that," he said coldly.

Kelsey turned frantic eyes to the group. She had been more laid back with the lack of sleep, but she realized she very much didn't know these people. "Right, uh, yeah, sorry." She dipped her head and focused her eyes in on the half a wrap Layla put in front of her.

Layla rolled her eyes. "Do you ever stand up for yourself?"

"We're not all assholes like you. Don't listen to her, Kelsey," Phil instructed.

"Ugh, that's enough out of you. You talk in your sleep. I'm so over you right now," Layla said as she leaned over the kitchen counter and waved a hand in his direction.

Luke came down the stairs casually. "Who are you over?" he asked, standing directly behind Kelsey, reaching over her shoulder and stealing crackers from her plate.

"Phil. He talks in his sleep, woke me up like three times."

Luke saw everyone in his peripheral vision cautiously wait for him to react. He couldn't help but laugh. "You should have shared a tent with him in Kabul. The bombs were more soothing," he said dryly. He grabbed the bottle of juice that had made its way back to Phil. "I assume this is the one Layla laid claim on with her mouth this morning?" he said before he drank from the bottle as well.

"I'm sorry, are any of us concerned with the germs we pass to each other?" Kelsey's voice was distinct again.

"I'm sorry. This is where you worry about where your mouth has been?" Luke asked amused, making both Layla and Phil laugh loudly and earning him a glare from Kelsey as he rested back on the fridge.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not as discerning when I've been kept up most of the night," she growled at him. "Did you two even sleep?" She ran her hands over her face, losing the angry steam she'd had at the beginning of her statement.

Luke stared at her, unamused. "No," he said dryly, also earning him another guffaw from both Layla and Phil. He tried to see out of his peripheral vision what the others were thinking, and, from what he could tell, there was surprise mixed with annoyance. Yeah, that was his sister. "She figured Layla would be the one to announce it to everybody, but I guess if you slept with Phil that means it's Kelsey's fault." He glared at her.

Kelsey rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'm sorry was I supposed to wait for the two of you to write it on a sheet cake and announce it at the gathering later?" She snatched the juice from him, making him push off the fridge and steal food from Layla.

Layla stuck half of a hummus wrap in her mouth and began talking. "Where is Penny? Couldn't walk?" She laughed loudly.

"She didn't want to come down here and deal with this shit," Luke announced, gesturing to the whole room and the people who were quietly taking in the exchange in front of them.

"I thought you all were up each other's assholes all the time? You're trying to keep them in the dark again?" Layla washed down her mouthful with the juice she'd stolen back.

"No, I think she didn't want to come down, get the inquisitive looks and questions all while everyone watched her trying to avert your shitty commentary," Luke said loudly. "Also, she's asleep," he added quietly.

"Oh good. I'm going to take a shower, not that you two banging in there this morning wasn't a delight as well," Kelsey huffed and then took a handful of crackers and the rest of the cream cheese with her upstairs.

"So are we one big happy family again, because honestly, if you made me choose sides, you weren't going to win, bro."

"Wow, now you tell me. I could have had something positive to focus on for the past few months." He handed Phil half of his own wrap without glancing over.

Layla let her full mouth drop open as she brought her hand to her chest. "But how would you live without me?"

"Anyway, we'll meet you down there later, is what I came to tell you. Also, please stop taking advantage of Phil. You're no bed of roses to sleep next to either." Luke snatched the juice bottle back and headed upstairs with it and a handful of half eaten wrap.

"Fuck him. I'm a fucking delight."


	10. Chapter 10

The premier was sort of disappointing for being such a landmark episode... Also, Lisa being there was totally irrelevant, there must be more coming from that otherwise, why bother? But also, what an irrelevant story line. The majority of that cast is chronically single and they give him a gf when they know how many of us ship Garvez... I think they like pissing me off. Anyway, I want to love CM again but they make it tough sometimes. I have said it before and I will say it again, they could've just left him single. We could still have our Garvez shipping hearts intact and cling on to any eye contact they had, but no, give him a gf when he's the last person who needs a significant other. We know the least about his background of anyone. There is so much more to explore there than a relationship... whatever.

Anyway, I am posting this chapter of Manor because so many of you seem to shy away from this fic because it takes a lot of twists and turns so hopefully this gives everyone a sense of calm. I think this was the story I was most personally attached to besides Fog so I hope that you all end up liking it as much as I do, because unfortunately those two pics seem to have been the least popular overall. Thanks everyone. And yes, I am still having some bad days but CM can rile me up in a heartbeat.

* * *

Luke and Penelope finally made it to the pool around four in the afternoon. The day was almost over, but they finally got some sleep in and had also done it two more times. Neither of them cared if they missed the water activities. Nothing was going to bring either of them more pleasure than having agreed to be together again. She was worried about having to explain their apparent overnight change of heart, but Luke assured her that they were all still a few steps behind, and this could only help with letting other details fall by the wayside.

They were unfortunately greeted by everybody when they strolled in because everyone that had been out on the water had tired themselves out in the past six hours. They were all in the clubhouse together, having drinks and using the pool and jacuzzi.

"So…" JJ said as she smirked at the two newcomers.

"Does everybody have to get quiet at the same time?" Penelope asked, already exasperated from the interrogation that hadn't happened yet.

"Well, inquiring minds, Penelope," Emily said with just as much excitement on her face as JJ.

"We're back together. Thank you. That is all to see here, folks. Please return to your regular programming." Penelope shook her head.

"Uh uh! You think we're going to leave it there? We didn't know you even had a serious relationship, we didn't know you broke up, we still don't know why, and now you're back together? Are you serious?" Derek asked in disbelief.

"We were together, we broke up, for a good reason at the time, but we've decided the reason wasn't worth it, so we are back together. It's not actually that complicated, Boo."

She watched Derek sigh, and she felt bad. She knew that he, as well as the others, just felt excluded. The time she had to herself while they were so caught up in their own lives actually seemed to do her some good. It gave her a different perspective on life and how miniscule some things really were.

"Fine. Look. Tonight we'll all have big family dinner, and you can all ask whatever you want, okay?" She was over it. Talking about it wasn't going to hurt her again, nor was it going to tear them apart. Their transformative joining the night before reassured her of that.

She nodded at the various faces around her that seemed to not only accept that answer but were already anticipating the conversation.

"Maybe I should start drinking now," she muttered to a round of laughter.

Luke took her aside. "Don't feel obligated."

"I don't anymore, Baby. I'm just ready to let it all go. What better way than this?" She gave him a kiss but stopped when she heard an _ooh_ coming from Rossi of all people. She rolled her eyes. "Or we could just elope, move to Sweden, and never see these people again."

He put his tongue to his teeth, letting delight cross his face. "Don't tempt me."

….

"Where are they? Food's ready. We need talk," JJ said as she rubbed her hands together.

"I know. I put my kids to bed early. I tricked my children for this," Kristy agreed.

"I bribed Jack," Hotch added. "He's upstairs helping Amanda and Mrs. Reid do a puzzle."

"Alright, alright. They'll be here," Emily assured before looking at her watch. "Although, they could speed it up."

Layla was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting at the same table from the night before with a glaring Kelsey right next to her. Phil had his wheelchair pulled up to the head of the table, tipping his head to the two ladies there with him.

Luke came down the stairs wanting to shout at everyone for silencing themselves almost every time he appeared now, but at least they were all paying attention. "Penny isn't feeling good. Maybe we can do this another time?"

"What? Wait, is she just trying to avoid us?" Tara asked.

"God I wish she was, but, no, she actually does feel sick."

"Should I go look at her?" Savannah asked

Luke shook his head. "I told her to let you, Kelsey, or Layla know, but she says she's fine. She just wants to rest." He shrugged.

"I have my kit with me. It's no trouble." Kelsey stood up, worried.

"No, no need." They heard Penelope's weak voice coming towards them. She shuffled through the kitchen to stand next to Luke.

"I told you I would take care of it," he said, immediately putting his arms around her.

"I know, I know, but then this will never end." She shook her head, taking a seat with Luke on the long settee near the wall that let them be in the front of the expansive room. She waved a hand at them all, indicating they should ask away.

Suddenly everyone seemed to have filters because no one jumped to speak first. Penelope rolled her eyes. "Look it's-" She cut herself off and held onto her side as she took a sharp intake of breath as she tried to contain the pain.

"Layla, go get my kit," Kelsey ordered. Layla was gone and back before Kelsey could even kneel in front of Penelope.

Phil wheeled closer to the group of four. He could see the others wanting to jump in, but he held a hand up. "Just stay calm right now, okay?" He tried to make eye contact with most everyone as he set himself nearby but out of the way. Layla was kneeling next to Kelsey, ready to help her while Luke held Penelope helplessly as she curled over in pain.

"When did the pain start?" Kelsey questioned.

"She was already complaining about tummy aches the day we got here," Luke answered.

Penelope took a deep breath. "My period is supposed to start, so I just thought…" She trailed off as she felt another swoop of pain.

"What day were you supposed to start?"

"Like, yesterday maybe, but at least we know I'm not pregnant."

"It's been steadily worse?" Kelsey asked as she pushed on Penelope's stomach.

"Well it was alright last night, obviously, but today, yes," she answered.

"Have your periods been getting lighter ever since then?" Penelope nodded. "Okay. Lay, call an ambulance," Kelsey told her. Layla ran past the shocked faces of the others to her phone. "I think you're going to need the surgery we talked about, but we're going to get an ultrasound and see if we're at that stage yet."

"Three minutes." Layla returned. "Adhesion buildup?"

"Most likely."

"Is this what you were saying was the rare but possible complication?" Luke asked, trying to stay calm.

Kelsey moved to the side, holding Penelope's wrist just to keep herself sure that she was okay. "Yes, most likely her cervix is blocked by adhesions. There was more destruction of the uterine lining than we'd hoped. Get them moved," Kelsey nodded to the crowded room.

"Everyone stand to the sides of the room," Phil said authoritatively. They all listened to him, most of them concerned and wanting to jump in but knowing they would only be in the way.

Layla ran out to the front deck so she could wave the paramedics in. "I can walk to the door," Penelope said.

"I don't think-"

She cut Luke off. "No, I can walk to the front door. It'll be quicker than if they have to come in here."

Luke deferred to Kelsey who nodded and got on Penelope's other side, walking with her to the entrance. The paramedics were coming up the walkway, and they met them on the front porch, "Complications from a C&D three months ago, most likely Asherman's. Call it in, tell them Dr. Kelsey Alvez will probably need an O.R. I should still have visiting physician status." Kelsey's voice was the most clear anyone had heard it since meeting her. Layla stood in the entrance, not wanting to be in the way. Kelsey came up to her and kissed her soundly on the lips. "Sorry, Baby, we shouldn't be fighting right now." Everyone watched helplessly as Kelsey and Luke got in the ambulance with Penelope.

Layla sighed exhaustedly before turning around to the shocked and scared faces in front of her. She shut the door and took a deep breath. "Well fuck, Phil. Looks like it's me and you now." She motioned for the others to sit, most of them did, but Derek started pacing the side of the room.

"Shouldn't we go to the hospital?" he growled angrily.

"Hey, Derek, dude, I know I don't know you that well, but calm down, bro. You can't do anything right now. But maybe you can all understand, and that way you can be there for both of them when she comes out of surgery." Layla saw that he could be a hot head, but right now was not the time.

Phil put a hand on Layla's arm when she came to sit next to him. "Please, everyone, let us give you the explanation you've wanted, and that you now need."

As the two people now on the hotseat took a few breaths to prepare themselves, Savannah questioned quietly, "Asherman's?" When she saw Layla nod, she sat back not meeting her husband's gaze, wanting to let them all understand and needing Layla to start from the beginning.

"So as you know they were together. It was serious. And it was- _is_ a very good relationship," Phil said calmly.

"So good in fact that neither of them seemed to care about preventing pregnancy," Layla muttered.

"When all of you were on the Challenger case, and you were being carted back and forth to protective custody and watching bodies drop, Penelope didn't even realize she was pregnant for a couple months," Phil informed them.

"They finally figured it out when she collapsed while we were all here together. Luckily, Kelsey seemed to figure out what was wrong right away. Kelsey thought that they figured it out in time, but a couple days later..."Layla let a couple of tears fall.

"There was a lot of… She needed to have a procedure called dilation and curettage, D&C. Her body, for whatever reason, didn't actually complete the miscarriage. They perform the procedure when the miscarriage is incomplete," Phil added. He knew more about this process than he ever thought he would.

"It's not great, but it's not entirely invasive either. But sometimes it can lead to Asherman's syndrome, which can be a bad complication depending on the grade. It means essentially that there was extensive destruction of her uterine lining or that adhesions have grown and are blocking her cervix, preventing her blood from exiting her uterus." Layla let Phil wipe her tears before speaking again. "If it's a bad grade, then she'll need a rare and invasive surgery. Only a handful of doctors have enough experience with A.S. to truly perform it safely. Thank God my wife is one of them." She let her tears fall as she felt a sob invade her body.

The room was silent, and most of the people were crying or attempting not to. "Is she going to be okay?" JJ asked in between her own small sobs.

"She should be. If she was bleeding still last month, that means it can't be as- It's a better place to be," Layla said as she wiped her face on Phil's shoulder.

"They didn't want to burden you with more than you were already dealing with. It wasn't that alarming at the time. It was, but wasn't. The pregnancy was a surprise, but they didn't even have enough time to tell anyone, even if they wanted to, because the miscarriage happened before we left here that week. There was only about a week where she knew she was pregnant before... D&C is performed in one day. She was released five hours later. All of you were on leave, so she had a few days to recuperate without ever having to let it affect work. It just never seemed like a good time," Phil added as he held Layla's head against his shoulder.

"But then- But why- How did- I mean I understand that it's emotional, but they- Luke said she broke his heart, I'm not-" Derek trailed off not sure what he was asking or if he even cared at the moment.

"She did. She was pretending to be okay, but, when they went back to work, she wouldn't let him come over or see her. She told him to focus on the case. You all had to go out of town, he was going to ask to stay, she didn't want him to, and she pushed him away. When he got back, she had moved her stuff out of his house. She wouldn't see him except at work. Then when he went to confront her after he had given her a week to herself, she broke up with him. She told him she didn't want to be with him," Layla told them.

"She was shutting down. She was probably depressed. To be honest, so was he, but they couldn't let you all down. You needed them to help catch that unsub, so they tried to compartmentalize, but he still didn't want to lose her. There was another two days they had off at the same time when you all were rotating. He went to her apartment to try and talk sense into her again, but she was drunkenly kissing some guy at her door," Phil added.

"Luke was- He was- I don't even know if crushed, if gutted- I don't know if there's a word for it. He was just so utterly broken," Layla added through tears.

"Yeah worse than when his PTSS was-" Phil cut himself off.

"He came to Philadelphia to talk to Kelsey and me. Kelsey deals with this all the time. She knows these things can break people up. When she first figured out Penelope was pregnant, she promised that her and her baby would be alright. Kelsey thought that she got her prenatal care quickly enough. It was assumed that Penelope only passed out from stress and lack of rest, at a time when she would need more. No one was looking for anything more to be wrong." Layla used the back of her hand to wipe the tears away. "Anyway, Kelsey didn't know what to say. She said she had never seen him so lost in all the years she's known him, and I've been with her for almost twelve."

"She decided to call Penelope after Luke left her office. She wanted to talk to her, to apologize for getting her hopes up, to tell her she couldn't retreat like that, to tell her to fight. She told her that Luke was there and how he was doing. She told her to go to him and make it right," Phil added.

"Something about what Kelsey said got through to her. Penelope went to his house and let herself in. She knew she'd acted stupid, and she knew she wanted to fix everything, but because they are the two dumbest people I know," Layla took a deep breath, "she walked in on him making out with Kelsey's sister. She had come to Kelsey's office to go to lunch with her and ran into Luke. They obviously know each other. He was looking for- I don't know, but she drove with him back to D.C. They went out and got shit faced drunk." Layla broke down into tears again.

"You can imagine, Penelope saw that and didn't want to deal with it. He chased after her, and she tried to shut him out all over again. That month was vicious for both of them, and yes, it was only a month. They've only been apart for three; the past two have been cautious but good. They both knew the other only went out with someone else because they were hurt. Luke knew why Penelope pushed him away. Penelope knew she had hurt him and, well, they got back to being them. Honestly, they did so fairly easily once they started communicating again, but she felt like she couldn't trust him which I understand. He felt like he couldn't trust her at first either," Phil added.

"She had a harder time with it probably because he slept with Kelsey's sister like ten years ago and also because he was the one telling her not to run away, and that's kind of what he did." Layla continued to wipe away her now silent tears.

"Damn, what the hell happened to us? Why didn't we see this?" Matt was the first one to speak, even though he was just as astonished as the rest of them.

"Hey man, you don't need to play that game with yourselves. We were there for them, but that's not what mattered. They didn't need other people; they needed each other. Even if you all knew, they probably would have still taken the long way around," Phil assured them. "Plus I know what you all were going through. I was obviously taken hostage," Phil gestured to his wheelchair. "Half of you were taken, all of you were threatened, and your families were taken away from you. There was no reason to do anything besides run your race, and get to the bottom of everything."

"Is that why? Is that why? The stress? The job?" JJ was quietly sobbing.

"No. Maybe." Layla wiped another tear away. "She had an abnormally high level of mercury in her system. Exposure to that can be harder to pinpoint, but there's a lot of chemicals in various computer parts like cadium and mercury. She was taking them apart and putting them back together a lot because she wanted to make sure she had the most effective machine she could. I'm sure the stress didn't help, but you can't do that either, try to pinpoint the reason," Layla assured her. "That's what Kelsey did to herself. She was so angry that she didn't see that something bigger was wrong."

"Is that why they said they didn't want kids? Because of that?" Savannah asked.

"Oh God, we were teasing them about it." Kristy put her hand to her chest.

Layla shook her head. "As far as I know, they never did want them. That week they discussed it and decided to change their life plans, but then it didn't work out that way anyway. Those few days in between, they were almost excited about it. But, not only does exposure to cadium and mercury make you sick, it also causes infertility and then, with the D&C, it's unlikely they could ever conceive now even if they wanted to."

"This procedure, it causes more infertility?" Emily asked.

"It can make it harder to get and maintain a healthy pregnancy," Layla nodded at her.

"I don't understand how we could have-" Rossi began.

"No wonder they didn't want to talk about it," Spencer agreed.

"We were joking about it all like it was nothing," Will said.

"Damn this is- this is-" Derek stood up to pace again. "And I owe Kelsey an apology."

"You thought she cheated with him," Phil stated rather than asked and waited for the nod. "And you thought I'd lower my standards enough to sleep with Layla." He tried to make a joke. At least Layla let a smile grace her face as she swatted Phil's bicep. "Luke would never." He assured the people in front of him. Phil was almost angry that they didn't know that about his best friend, but now was not the time.

"We didn't know that either, that you two are married," Hotch indicated Layla.

"You were reacting to your friend being upset. You went with the option that made more sense. Why would you assume all of this? To be honest, they were hiding from themselves too. Seriously I've played this game, and taking on the burden for them isn't how to do it. You just need to be there for them going forward, but you don't need to rehash what's already been. It will get you nowhere," Phil said soundly.

"We should probably go to the hospital. She'll be in surgery I'm sure, but Luke…" Layla said.

"We can't all go sit there. It will make Luke feel claustrophobic and like he has to think about us and not her," Hayden told them all as she saw them wanting to move.

"She's right. He'll start worrying about all of you. We need to let him have some peace," Phil told the group.

"He's one of my best friends. I need to go," Matt said to Phil who nodded at him.

"Penelope is my best friend. I need to go too." JJ stood up wiping her eyes.

"So do I," Derek said.

"The five of us can head over. If needed, we can switch out in shifts, but let's just see what's going on first." Phil was in charge here, and he needed to make sure that everyone did what was right for both Penelope and Luke. "Let's go."


	11. Chapter 11

This was one of my favorite stories. I know some of you weren't a big fan of the mystery but I loved writing it. As I announced in the Summer update, I will finish off my last two stories and then I will be stepping away from Criminal Minds. The show has been slipping for awhile and if they are going to waste time giving Luke a personal life and ignoring all the women and Reid while simultaneously extinguishing Garvez chemistry, it is just not for me anymore. Thank you to everyone, and of course I always enjoy and appreciate your reviews or anything you do to let me know you like a story. Thank you.

* * *

They found Luke in a small waiting room by himself. He had his elbows on his knees. He was making fists and staring straight ahead. He heard them enter, but he didn't bother to look up. The silent tears were running down his face. He could easily discern who was there, but he didn't care. He was only glad he didn't have to worry about everyone's feelings, and that only a few of them had come.

"She's in surgery," Layla stated rather than asked. "It's Asherman's."

Luke nodded without moving any other muscle in his body.

Phil wheeled up next to him and put a hand on Luke's shoulder, which made Luke bury his head in his hands letting go of more tears. Matt sat next to Luke on his other side, putting his hand on his other shoulder. Layla came to kneel in front of him, covering his hands with hers.

Derek nodded to JJ for them to sit a few chairs away from the four of them. He let JJ lean into his shoulder and put his arm on the back of her chair. He let his head lay on hers as they waited.

A couple hours later, Kelsey walked into the room, pulling off her scrub cap. Derek and JJ woke up instantly. Layla was lying between Luke and Phil. She fell asleep while the other three men had been silently contemplating.

Kelsey waited a moment for everyone to adjust. "It went well. There wasn't that much build up yet. There were enough adhesions to block the blood exiting her uterus, but I cleared them, and she should be fine."

Everyone let out a relieved breath. "Can I see her?" Luke asked.

"They are moving her from the O.R. I'll come get you when they put her in her room." Kelsey gave him a half smile. "I-I just wanted to tell you that, I'll have to run tests to be sure, but, between this and her low chances before, it would be nearly impossible for her to ever conceive."

Luke shook his head. "That doesn't matter at all. Good, I'm glad. Then she won't have to go through any of this again. That's never what we wanted anyway."

Kelsey nodded. "I know. I just wanted you to be aware. Give me a few minutes to make sure she's been brought up." She had the door half opened when Derek's voice stopped her.

"Hey I just wanted to-"

She held up a hand. "It's better for you to think ill of me than to make them divulge something they weren't prepared to."

Derek nodded. "Thank you." He meant for saving Penelope's life, not for the forgiveness for his attitude. Kelsey nodded and exited.

"None of you have to stay. I'm not leaving though. So don't even try to tell me to," Luke told them.

"Wouldn't dream of it. But we'll stay until you see her for yourself," Phil said to him and waited for Luke to nod.

Kelsey waved at him through the glass door, and Luke followed her down the hall. Penelope was still sleeping. "She'll wake up soon. She'll be groggy," Kelsey said before stepping away to give him some privacy.

Luke silently walked to her bedside, pulled the chair near the bed, and took her hand in his, letting them fall to the bed. "I don't know how we even got here, Chica, but I'm not leaving."

When Luke finally felt her move, he didn't know how long it had been, but he had zoned out with his head on her bed. When he looked up, he saw her half open eyes. "Luke." His name barely came out of her lips.

He shushed her. "Baby, I'm right here. I'm not going away. You did really good. You're fine. You're going to be fine." He leaned over to kiss her forehead.

She sleepily nodded. "I had a dream this would happen. Does that make me psychic?" Her voice was raspy.

He laughed. "I think it means you're crazy."

"Well damn."

"You know this means- it already meant we can't have any kids, even if we change our minds."

"We won't. I still have you, right?"

"Yes."

"Then that's what matters."

"I need to let the others know that you're awake. Do you want anyone to come see you?"

She barely shook her head. "It doesn't matter, but you can't leave."

He chuckled. "You couldn't make me even if you tried."

"How long do I have to be here?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"I'm sure glad we boned a lot yesterday because otherwise it would be another few weeks. I'm assuming."

He laughed again. "That's where your mind goes?"

She let her eyes close and then open slowly. "You clearly don't know how good you are."

"I love you."

"I love you."

There was a tap on the door behind him. "I can let them back for a few minutes if you like, but I want them to let you rest," Kelsey said quietly.

Penelope nodded. "Feel free to kick any of them out." She watched Kelsey walk away. "How bad do I look?"

"Seriously? Who cares what you look like when you've clearly gone insane."

"Well, can you at least put my hair back in a ponytail so I don't feel like a mess?"

He grabbed her hair tie out of the bag of personal belongings and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. "I guess helping Layla all those years finally paid off." He pulled the blanket further up her body, covering her up to her chest. He could tell she felt a little exposed in the ugly hospital gown.

When he heard the others approaching, he rounded the bed and held her hand on the other side to let them gather around near the door. "Hey Penny. Don't worry. Phil and I told them your whole life story. Now you don't have to go through it, but you can still use all that sympathy to cash in for gifts and favors," Layla announced as soon as she walked in.

Penelope sleepily shook her head. "Thanks, Layla, but I'll just take my boots back I think."

"Damn."

"We're sorry we were pushing you. We just... we don't know how not to know everything. We're always together. There aren't secrets between us. It was just so- but we weren't there for you, and, for that, we're sorry. All of us." JJ let a couple of tears fall.

"Jayge, let's not, okay? I think it was better this way."

"Well I'm happy to see you are feeling okay, and, even though this week has brought about a lot of revelations, I am ecstatic that you two are together." Matt gave her his signature smile.

"Or for some of us, we're ecstatic you're back together," Phil added.

"We should probably leave you to rest, but Layla is right. Just tell us what you need, and we'll do it," Matt told her. "I'll even let you color in my tattoos like you've been bothering me about."

"Oooh, you say that now when I'm not allowed to move. You tease." Penelope gave them a sleepy smile as they waved goodbye and silently made their way out.

Derek let them pass by him before he sidled up next to the bed and took her hand. "I promised myself I would never see you like this again, in a hospital bed. I swore it to myself, and here we are, and I didn't even know it." He was tearing up.

"Hey, hey, Baby Boy. You couldn't have done anything."

"But that's not the point, Garcia. The point is I promised to protect you, but I can't do that if I'm not even paying you enough attention. When did this happen? When did I stop being- When did this happen?" He was letting a few tears fall. He was grateful Luke was quietly holding Penelope's hand and not making him feel exposed.

"Angelfish, you got married and had a kid, remember? Your priority can't be me anymore. It's the way it's supposed to be."

"But you were always my priority. You were everything, and I forgot that you weren't anymore and I just- I thought you still were, but I wasn't doing anything to keep you close, and I think I took you for granted. I'm so sorry. I'm not a good best friend or protector if I don't even…" He brought his hand up to swipe at his eye.

"Oh, beautiful Chocolate Thunder. It's alright. We both grew up. We were each other's everything when we didn't have anything else, but we couldn't do that forever. We couldn't act like that forever. We still love each other. It just looks a little different now." She assured him.

He leaned in to kiss her cheek and then her forehead. "Here you are making me feel better, silly girl."

"Well you're always the mess, not me." She squeezed his fingers before letting them go.

Derek stepped back and then rounded the bed. "I'm sorry I didn't do more, and I'm sorry I didn't see you either. You've been there for the whole team, and you were there for me when we were chasing this unsub. I probably took you for granted too, but, more than that, I'm just going to say thank you because I'm pretty sure you love her the way I want her to be, and that's what makes you good in my eyes. It's what matters to me." Derek stuck his hand out, Luke let go of Penelope's to take it, and the two most important men in her life gave each other an embrace around their clasped hands before pulling away.

Luke grabbed Penelope's hand again as she spoke. "Love you, Hot Stuff."

"Love you too, Goddess." Derek ambled away slowly.

"Poor thing is still in love with me." Penelope leered at Luke.

Luke chuckled. "Oh, I never doubted that." He sobered, "But I'm in love with you too."

"I'm even more in love with you."

"Get some rest. I'm not going anywhere." He pulled up a chair to the opposite side of the bed and watched her eyes close as she held on tightly to his hand.

….

Four weeks later:

"Hey, c'mon in." Luke waved the large group of people into his house. Layla, Kelsey, and Phil had already been there, and they happily greeted all of the people they had met just a month ago.

"Wow, here we all are again. Man, there are too many of us," Emily said.

"Well, Mark's not here," Tara said hopefully.

"Yeah, neither is my mom," Reid added.

"No kids to speak of," Kristy said.

"Okay okay, there's less of us, and there's still too many." Emily walked to the kitchen counter where she saw a bunch of drinks set out.

Luke gestured to the drinks and snacks set about. "I take no responsibility if anyone gets sick. Layla was in charge of all this." He pointed to the tables of food.

They all settled in and started mingling. "Hey, where's Garcia?" JJ questioned.

"She'll be down in a few. She's just happy to be back in her own bed. Well, my own bed, our own bed... I don't know. She's happy to be home, and the past week she lingers in each room taking everything in like she's being excommunicated." Luke shrugged.

"I am not. It's just all so... I don't know. It's not a hospital bed. I like being home." Penelope came into the room. She smiled at everyone, but she went straight to Luke to hold onto him.

"Feeling back to normal?" Savannah asked her.

"Mostly. Apparently, we have to continue to look for all kinds of things to occur. So Luke gets to drive me three hours to Pennsylvania to see Kelsey all the time, so she can take care of my uterus and stick her fingers in my hoo ha. It's super annoying."

"Hey," Kelsey said affronted.

"I'll let you stick your fingers in my hoo ha, and I won't complain." Layla stuffed a bunch of chips her mouth.

Kelsey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks, dear."

"We're happy to see you doing well, Kitten," Rossi said as he took a seat near Hotch.

"Garcia, we all are very happy to know you're okay," Hotch added.

"We're all grateful you're fine, and that we are all on the same page again," Tara said.

"It's true. JJ started writing down things about everyone so she wouldn't miss anything again." Will kissed his wife's forehead.

"Is that why you asked me why I was lifting more the other day? You thought something was wrong?" Matt asked.

"I'm not taking any chances," she told him.

"Now there's even less chance for privacy," Luke said to Penelope as he held onto her with his arms around her and her arms still wrapped around his waist.

"Yes, well in the interest of being open or actually in the interest of being not profiled, we're glad you could all make it. We wanted to inform all of you at the same time and also avoid the fallout later. We are married," Penelope announced.

The shock on the faces around the room was becoming an annoyance. She always thought she would love to keep secrets from these people, but it lost its shine quickly. "That's not- why weren't we a part of that?" Derek asked and then looked to Phil.

"Hey man, I didn't know either." He held up his hands.

"No, none of you knew, including Layla. We didn't want a big affair and to worry about wedding details. That stuff seemed so insignificant. We got married at the hospital a few days before I was released. Kelsey was our witness. It wasn't to exclude or keep a secret or anything of that nature. We just needed to do what we needed to do for us," Penelope said confidently.

"Right, and we knew we'd get these looks right here, so we wanted to let you all be a part of planning and enjoying a reception of sorts. Anything and anywhere. Whatever you all want," Luke added.

"Can I bring Amanda?" Spencer asked quietly and then he shyly looked down.

Penelope smiled, "Of course."

"So what I'm hearing is that we can make this as lavish and eccentric as we want it to be." JJ pouted her lips slightly. "Interesting." She gave Tara and Emily conspiratorial glances.

"Uh oh," Luke said as he kissed Penelope's forehead again.

"We knew this was coming, Honey."

"That we did."

"Alright then." JJ stood up and walked to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Penelope let her arms drop from Luke's waist to give JJ her full attention.

"Oh, I'm just going to go get all the scrapbooks I made for when I finally got the two of you together. I've been planning your wedding for two years, and I'll be damned if it ends with chips in a bowl that Layla probably already licked." JJ swung the front door open and strolled out as she heard Layla's voice calling out to her.

"I like the salt!"


End file.
